The Azkaban Jailbird
by The Blade of Osh-Tekk
Summary: Book 3 of the Muggle Student Series. Our Muggle student now has to deal with 'notorious mass murderer Sirius Black.' Join us as we solve a 12 year old mystery.
1. Chapter 1 - Into the Magical World

A/N: Book three everyone! I can't wait to get to the last 4. Those are the ones I figured I would have the most fun with. But on a more serious note, I have enjoyed this series pretty well. Regardless of mistakes I've seen and haven't fixed. I'll do that one day, but for now, lets get started.

* * *

We got of the plane and Henry took us near the Leaky so we could get to Diagon Alley. I knew Harry was affected by his jetlag judging by how green his face was.

"Jetlag is something you have to get used to kid," I told him.

"Just how often have you traveled by plane?" he asked me.

"I average about 40 trips a year. Counting taking a plane back of course," I told him.

"So it obvious how you're used to jetlag while I'm standing here having a hard time functioning in society," Harry told me.

"Don't worry about that kid. Just about everyone loves you. Well, except the dumbasses and the number of kids who would probably want to be in your position. I mean, a wizard AND the foster child of the richest man in the Muggle world? You got a lot of things that would incite jealousy from people," I told him.

"You have a point there. Then again, I would still be here whether you were rich, middle class, or poor. Simply cause of the fact that you actually care," Harry explained.

"There are not many people who I really give a shit about. I believe quite a few people have a right to live, but most of them I don't really give a shit about. You, Hermione, and the Weasleys are the only ones on that list. I suppose Severus is too."

"You suppose?"

"To be honest, I don't know too much about the man to really care about him, now do I? Anyway, since Ron begged and pleaded that we come back during the last day of summer, we're gonna meet up with him at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Why in the world did we vacation in Japan in the first place?"

"Cause of a song I heard. Plus it's one of the few places I've never been, so I decided to give it a shot."

"Let me get this straight. A song convinced you that we should vacation in Japan, so we did."

 _"Tokyo,_ Japan. And yes. Yes it did. I have a right to visit any other country I wish. And you have to admit. The strippers were hot," I said while grinning and nudging him playfully. Harry smiled.

"Very hot. Ok, that was worth the entire trip I have to admit. And the fact that you took to different ones to make sure I got the full experience makes me wonder about you. I don't know if you're single by choice or if it's just because you like being a pervert," he said while grinning from ear to ear. I pretended to look offended by his statement before it turned into a grin.

"It's by choice son. When you've got the life I do, it has to be by choice. That is, if you don't want to cause the death of people you love," I told him simply.

"Am I an exception to the rule?" Harry questioned.

"Yes. Simply because you have the advantage of magic, a few of my teachings, and you're away at Hogwarts most of the year, where you're safe. I can't really give anyone I date the same luxury. If I know most women, which I actually do, is the fact that they do not want to be smothered by me or personal security guards who watch over their every move. Plus it wouldn't be much of a relationship with Hogwarts going on, the occasional Vigilante work... The problems are just so high that I can't risk it," I said frustratingly. Sometimes I hate the fact that I chose this career path.

"How about you hook up with Tonks? She's definitely exempt from the rule," Harry told me.

"And you think I have not thought of this why? I haven't talked to her since the train home from first year. Any hope for a relationship is long gone," I told him. Even though I hid it well, this really left me bitter. I was a brutal bastard, but when I loved, I loved with all of my might.

"That's pretty depressing. That doesn't mean you should stop trying in the wizarding world though. There's bound to be _someone,"_ Harry told me.

"I love how I need _you_ to tell _me_ this. Normally it's the other way around," I told him before smiling. "Thanks."

"No problem. Someone has to be your therapist for the pool of angst that's swimming around in your head," Harry told me. "There's a lot more to you that people don't know."

"It's unlikely _anyone_ will know besides you, so keep that in mind," I told him.

We rode out the rest of the car trip in silence before walking into the Leaky Cauldron. We walked through Diagon Alley and we saw Hermione and Ron outside of the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Me and Harry smiled and looked at each other before nodding and lowering ourselves into a crouch. We then snuck up behind the both of them and yelled loudly behind them, causing them both to throw their ice cream high in the air.

Me and Harry began laughing loudly to the point where we could barely stay on our feet.

"That was not funny!" Hermione said sternly while holding her heart. That still didn't deter our laughter.

"Yes it was. For us at least," I said, trying to catch my breath.

"If I didn't know it was you, I would've cursed the piss out of you," Ron said grumpily.

"I was ready for it too. But there wasn't even a point to do so," I said, my laughter fading.

"Putting that trick you played on us aside, it's good to see the both of you," Hermione said warmly. I smiled and wrapped the both of them in a hug.

"Good to see the both of you too. I sincerely hope Fred and George have been staying out of trouble," I said, making Hermione and Ron look at me knowingly. "You know that was a rhetorical statement. Those two can't stay out of trouble to save their lives."

"And you would be right. But where'd you two go for the last few weeks?" Hermione asked us.

"Tokyo. Loved it," Harry said. I nudged him playfully.

"You mean loved the strippers," I said smiling. Harry smiled before nudging me back.

"That too. The age consent is 13 there, so I was actually able to go to a strip club there," Harry said with a wide smile. Hermione looked aghast while Ron looked confused.

"What's a strip club?" he asked. My eyes widened. Are you serious?

"There aren't strip clubs in the wizarding world?" I asked in disbelief.

"No. What are they?" Ron asked.

"It's basically a place where women are paid to dance half naked for you," Harry summarized. Ron's eyes widened.

"No way," he said in a subdued voice.

"Yup. I just showed him the live version of what he's going to see on porn sites," I said, making Harry go red. "Still not as red as you were when I took you there. Since he's on my budget, I made him go ask and pay for his own lap dance. Call me a terrible parent, but I couldn't be more proud."

"I hated you and loved you at the same time when I found out you took me there," Harry admitted. I patted him on the shoulder.

"Loved me because of the boobs you saw, and hated me because of the painful erection you had I'm guessing," I said grinning. (I'm treading on thin ice with this T rating. lol)

"Damn you," Harry said. Hermione shook her head.

"You are perhaps the most responsively irresponsible parent ever," Hermione told me. I bowed at her.

"Why thank you. Plus he'll likely be seeing a pair of his own up close in about... 10 years at the most, 4 at the least. Somewhere around there. As long as you protect yourself and the girl, then I couldn't give a damn if you have sex or not. Why? Cause it could definitely be a lot worse," I explained.

"Oh Merlin... my parents would hate your parenting style," Hermione said.

"Mine would too," Ron said.

"I don't care really. Most children aren't really as mature as my son, so that's why I'm giving him certain liberties. And I have a right to raise my child however I please. The next best thing would've been to get him on a porn site and set a box of tissues next to him," I teased, making Harry go even redder.

"Can we _please_ get off this subject before someone finds out what we're talking about?" Hermione asked, going pink.

"All you had to do was ask. Anything new with either of you?" I asked.

"Have you heard about the Galleon Draw we won?" Ron asked excitedly.

"I heard. You all deserve it. What'd you do with the money?" I asked him.

"We mostly spent it on the trip to Egypt, but they also bought me a new wand. Look at this," Ron said, digging his wand out of his pocket and showing it to us. "Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail hair. And we've got all our books -" He pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two."

"I dunno. Dad had our books delivered in two separate package, but we haven't opened the- why are you looking at me like that?" Harry questioned at the looks of surprise on Ron and Hermione's faces.

"Did you call him dad?" Ron asked. I put an arm around his shoulder while smiling.

"In everything but blood. We're that close," Harry told them. "He's not my original dad, but he's a damn good surrogate. He's not overprotective, nor is he careless. He keeps it real with me, and treats me like an adult. But he never let me goes over the line."

"And he's everything I could wish for in a son. He's polite, hardworking, and selfless. Not to mention brave. He's like me with different looks. I've molded him into a fighter, but he's still a child. And if what Snape said about Voldemort is true..." I trailed off, making Ron flinch as soon as I said Voldemort's name. Me and Harry looked at him with an irritated look.

"Hitler killed over six million Jews in his regime, and they aren't afraid to say his name. What's your excuse?" I asked him.

"That's some dark history. But we grew up hearing how terrible he was made us all fear him," Ron explained.

"Fear him, you can do. Fear of saying his name? That's just being ridiculous," I told him.

"Is there anyone you actually fear?" Ron asked.

"No. There are plenty of things I fear, but a person is not one of them. Because no one instills fear in me," I explained.

"That's cause you grew up with nothing to fear," Ron said.

"I grew up with the idea of terrorists, serial killers, and psychopaths who all kill for fun and excitement. It's hard to get much more scarier than that," I told him. Then I noticed the size of Hermione's _bags._ Note the plural in that. I knew for a fact that third years didn't have THAT many classes.

"Hermione... what is up with your bags?" I questioned. Harry and Ron eyed Hermione's bags as well and their eyes widened at the bulging size and number of them.

"Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I?" Hermione said. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies -"

"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" Ron said, rolling his eyes at me and Harry. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"

"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," Hermione said earnestly. I face palmed.

"Good God. There's not point in taking a subject you don't need. That just wastes time. Do yourself the favor and drop them. Otherwise, you're gonna pass out from exhaustion at that rate," I told her.

"Come on, Hermione. It's pointless learning Muggle Studies when you already know just about everything about the Muggle world. Plus, judging by how most people don't know just about anything Muggle related, you can bet your bottom dollar that the person teaching it doesn't know much more," Harry said rationally. Hermione bit her bottom lip as she pondered our words.

"Fine. I'll drop the class," Hermione said. I have never seen someone so sad with a decision like that.

"Thank you. That's more sensible. Now you have more time left over," I assured her. Hermione then pulled out her purse.

"Looks like I've still got ten Galleons. It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present," she said.

"How about a nice book?" Ron suggested innocently. I spared him a withering glance before turning back to Hermione.

"No, I don't think so," Hermione said composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol -"

"I haven't," Ron said. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."

Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.

"Looks more like he's depressed. Maybe it's the psychology of living in captivity?" I suggested.

"He's been in my family for twelve years. He was lazy, but he wasn't depressed. What changed?" Ron asked. Then I found something strange.

"Twelve years? Most rats in captivity only live for four years at average. Maybe age is actually catching up to him and he's barely alive," I also suggested. Ron looked a little scared at the thought. "Take him to the magical creature shop over there." I pointed to a shop in the distance. "You can see if there's anything you can do for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl at the same time."

I then paid for their ice cream since I knocked it out of their hands and we walked to the magical creature shop.

There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so the four of us waited and started examining the cages. What I saw interested me.

A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Snails of a poisonous orange were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails. These all looked like science experiments that had gone terrible right.

The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.

"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."

"Bang him on the counter," the witch said, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.

Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better took. He looked especially worn and raggedy when you compared him to the glossy rats in the other cages.

"Hmm," the witch said, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"

"Dunno," Ron said. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother."

"What powers does he have?" the witch said, examining Scabbers closely.

"Er -" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The only thing he seemed capable of was being fat and lazy. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers' tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.

"He's been through the mill, this one," she said.

"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," Ron said defensively.

"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than four years or so," the witch said. "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these -"

She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs."

"Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic," the witch said, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.

"Okay," said Ron. "How much - OUCH!"

Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers. This was the biggest cat I have ever seen in my life.

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" the witch cried, but Scabbers, shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door. I chased after Crookshanks and scooped him up, who attempted to scratch me. Instead of punching the cat like I was tempted to do, I gently scratched the cat behind its ears and that calmed it down enough to stop trying to scratch me. Then it began to purr in satisfaction.

It took the others 10 minutes to get Scabbers while I kept the cat calm. I gave him back to the witch at the desk before walking out with Ron and Harry. Hermione stayed so she could get her owl. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.

"What was that?" Ron asked, massaging his scalp.

"It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," Harry said.

We then made our way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As we reached it, Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat that nearly scalped Ron.

"You bought that monster?" Ron said, his mouth hanging open.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" Hermione said, glowing.

"That is definitely a matter of perspective," I told her.

The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall.

"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" Ron said..

"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" Hermione said.

"And what about Scabbers?" Ron said, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"

"He's got a point Hermione. Nothing ever comes good from having a cat and a rat in the same place at the same time," I told her. But she disregarded what I said.

"That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," Hermione said, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop worrying. Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, so what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages. No one wanted him."

"Wonder why," Ron said sarcastically as we set off toward the Leaky Cauldron. We found Mr. Weasley sitting in the bar, reading the Daily prophet.

"Harry! Robert!" he said, smiling as he looked up. "How are you?"

"Good," the two of us said at the same time. Then we turned our heads sideways at the picture of Sirius Black on his newspaper.

"They still haven't caught him?" I asked.

"No," Mr. Weasley said, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far."

"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" Ron asked. "It'd be good to get some more money -" I immediately rounded on him.

"Don't be stupid Ron. Black's a stone cold murderer. He would have no problem killing a thirteen year old," I told him sternly. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Mark my words, it's the Azkaban guards that'll catch him," Mr. Weasley said. I grimaced at the mention of Dementors, but I didn't comment.

At that moment Mrs. Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by the twins, Fred and George, who were about to start their fifth year at Hogwarts. Percy and the Weasleys' youngest child and only girl, Ginny.

"Hello to all of you," I said politely.

"Hello dears. I heard from Ron you went on vacation. Where at?" Mrs. Weasley asked me.

"Tokyo, Japan. Loved it. Loved the Japanese strippers even more," I said smiling. I got nothing but blank looks at my wording. "Never mind."

"Yeah, and maybe it's best for you not to know," Hermione said. Mrs. Weasley decided for another change of subject before her kids could comment further on the subject she could assume was inappropriate.

"Anyway, I suppose you two have heard the news?" she asked us.

"The Galleon Draw? Of course we did. That was in the papers," I said.

"Not that," Mrs. Weasley said, gesturing to Percy's Head Boy badge while beaming. "Second Head Boy in the family!"

"And last," Fred muttered under his breath. I couldn't help but agree. It didn't seem likely Ron would make a prefect if he continued down the same road he was heading now. Ginny might have a chance though. Wait, Hermione would still be in school. Never mind.

"I don't doubt that," Mrs. Weasley said, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects." Before they could even speak, I interjected.

"One of these two prefects? That's a terrible idea if I ever heard one," I said. Fred and George simply smiled at my words. Mrs. Weasley chose not to comment at my statement.

"Well, dinner is nearly here. I would suggest you all go up to change," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'm fine with what I'm wearing," I said, rolling up the sleeves of my trench coat. Mrs. Weasley simply sighed as she knew there was no change my mind and gestured for the rest of them to head up the stairs.

Dinner was pretty good that night. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and all of us ate our way through five courses.

"How are we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, dad?" Fred asked.

"If you want, I can get my driver here. I've got a big stretch limo, so there's enough room for all of us," I suggested. Mr. Weasley smiled the idea. Likely not the limo itself, but the fact that'll he'll actually get to see one beyond pictures.

"Tempting, but no. The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," Mr. Weasley said. We all looked at him. That was not common at all.

"Why?" Percy said curiously.

"It's because of you, Perce," George said seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them"

"- for Humongous Bighead," Fred said.

I snorted with laughter along with most of the table at this statement. Couldn't really argue with that statement.

"Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked in a dignified voice.

"Don't know really. They seemed to insist that they take us," Mr. Weasley said, his ears going red. My lips thinned. I knew something was up, and he didn't seem to want to tell us.

"Good thing too," Mrs. Weasley said briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground... You are all packed, aren't you?"

"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet," Percy said in a long-suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed."

"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.

"I wouldn't want your stuff on my bed either," I said. Ron frowned even more before heading up the stairs to his room.

After dinner, we were all full and sleepy. Me and Harry shared a room right next to Percy and Ron.

"Not bad for a first day back. Though Japan had way better hotels," Harry said sleepily. I yawned before answering.

"T-that's because they were five star hotels. I'd be surprised if this place was better," I said.

"Good point. Then again..." The rest of his sentence was cut off by the sound of angry voice coming from number twelve, and Percy was shouting.

"It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing..."

"I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron roared back. We walked inside their room and I spoke in an impatient tone.

"What the hell are you two yelling about? People on this floor might be sleeping!" I hissed impatiently.

"My Head Boy badge is gone," said Percy, rounding on me. I frowned.

"I know one thing. You better back the hell out of my face before I punch your glasses in half. Stop acting like I'm the one who took your worthless badge," I snapped at him. He eased up and I straightened my shirt before speaking.

"Now... just how is your badge lost? You're a wizard. There's a summoning charm made for a reason," I told him. Percy seemed subdued at my suggestion, like he's upset he didn't think of that in the first place.

"Accio," Percy said evenly. His badge came flying through the door. But someone definitely had it. It had BigHead Boy on it now.

I shook my head. It didn't take a genius to figure out who did that. But I put a hand over Percy's mouth before he started yelling again.

"There are still people on this floor. That did not change," I told him. "Yell at them tomorrow. Go to bed."

"Hey, I don't see Scabbers' rat tonic in here. Can you do me a favor and see if I left it downstairs?"

"Yeah, I got it. Dad, you relax," Harry told me. I smiled. That sounded nice. Dad. I walked back into my room and went to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Hope you all liked da first chapter. And I don't know why Percy would tear their room apart when summoning charms exist. Just putting that out there. Anyway, hope you come back for more. P.S: The age of legality in Japan is actually 13, which was convenient for the stripper idea.


	2. Chapter 2 - Dementors

"I need to tell you both something," Harry said to me and Ron. We both turned to him with our full attention.

"What's up kid?" I asked before I was interrupted by Fred and George congratulating Ron on infuriating Percy. We couldn't get any privacy here, so we went downstairs. But Mr. Weasley was down there reading the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione and Ginny about a love potion she'd made as a young girl. All three of them were rather giggly. That is definitely a conversation I would want to tune out.

"What were you saying?" I asked.

"Later," Harry muttered as Percy stormed in. Whatever he had to tell us, it sounded serious.

Dealing with all the hectic preparation of getting out of the door before the Ministry arrived left no room for conversation. Then Hermione's wickerwork basket that had Crookshanks inside started spitting madly.

"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train."

"You won't," Ron snapped. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?"

He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket. I then leaned next to Harry's ear.

"They're gonna argue about this throughout the entire school year, aren't they?" I whispered to him.

"Most likely so," Harry said, watching the two stare daggers at each other.

Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry cars, stuck his head inside.

"They're here," he said. "Harry, come on."

Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the short stretch of pavement toward the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet. I stood right behind them while I eyed the two wizard drivers. Like most people I met, I didn't trust them as far as I could throw them. And I could throw people far.

We all got into the back seat of the car and the ride itself was pretty uneventful. Considering the Ministry official driving us would hear whatever we said, that left no room to talk about what Harry wanted to tell us. To be honest, the suspense was pissing me off.

Mr. Weasley kept close to Harry's elbow all the way into the station. His behavior was really suspicious to me.

"Right then," he said, glancing around them. "Let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Harry." I eyed Mr. Weasley the entire time.

They leaned against the platform in a subtle way before falling through the platform. I just refused to give a shit and walked through.

Percy and Ginny followed behind us while panting. They obviously had ran toward the platform.

"Ah, there's Penelope!" Percy said, going pink and smoothing his hair. Me, Ginny, and Harry snickered at his behavior. It made him look even more like a fool than normal.

He had his chest puffed out like some overconfident peacock so she wouldn't miss his new badge. How this girl dealt with his snobbish attitude is beyond me. Then I could see Mr. Weasley pull Harry to the side. I immediately followed him.

"I knew you'd follow. There's something I've got to tell you before you leave-" Mr. Weasley said in a tense voice.

"It's all right, Mr. Weasley," Harry said, "I already know."

"Does it have something to do with what you were going to tell us?" I asked. Harry nodded.

"You know? How could you know?"

"I heard you and Mrs. Wesley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing," Harry said. "I'm glad I did too."

"That's not the way I'd have chosen for you to find out," Mr. Weasley said, looking anxious.

"No - honestly it's OK. This way, you haven't broken your word to Fudge and I know what's going on," Harry assured him.

"What _is_ going on? Cause I'm going to punch someone out if I don't find out soon," I said impatiently.

"Harry, you must be scared - "

"I'm not," Harry said sincerely. "Really," he added, because Mr. Weasley was looking disbelieving.

"Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff than Fudge seems to think, and I'm obviously pleased that you're not scared, but -"

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley called, who was now shepherding everyone else onto the train. "Arthur, what are you doing? It's about to go!"

"We need to go Mr. Weasley," I told him in a hurried voice.

"He's coming Molly! I need to tell him one more thing," Mr. Weasley said, but he turned back to Harry and kept talking in a lower and more hurried voice, "Listen, I want you to give me your word -"

" - that I'll be a good boy and stay in the castle?" Harry said gloomily.

"Not entirely," Mr. Weasley said, who looked more serious than any of us have ever seen him. "Harry, swear to me you won't go looking for Black." Before Harry spoke, I grabbed him by his shoulder and guided him on to the train. There was a loud whistle and guards were walking along the train, slamming all the doors shut.

"We need to go. We'll discuss this on the train," I said impatiently. I hurried him on the train while quickly following behind him. We found the compartment that Hermione and Ron. Ginny was also inside with them.

"We need to talk to you. Ginny, can you leave us alone?" I asked politely. She nodded and left the compartment. I then turned to Harry with an expectant look.

"Ok, turns out Sirius Black was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers and he escaped from Azkaban to kill me," Harry said bluntly. The bluntness of the statement showed he either wanted to get it out of his mouth quickly, or he wasn't worried about it. Either way, I was upset.

"I see. And they didn't think to tell the _guardian_ this particular piece of information?" I said coldly.

"Mr. Weasley was arguing was arguing with his wife about it last night. But it seems he wanted me to be prepared and unhappy rather than happy and ignorant because he planned on telling me before I got on the train," Harry explained. I nodded.

"Good on him then. But why did he try and make you promise that you wouldn't go looking for Black?" I asked him.

"No idea. It wouldn't make sense to go looking for someone who wants to kill for me. Usually, that kind of trouble finds me," Harry said.

"Maybe it's because we usually find trouble since we started coming here?" Ron suggested in a rhetorical tone.

"It's more than that. I just can't tell what it is," I said, putting both my thumb and index finger under my chin. Both Hermione and Ron seemed extremely worried about this particular situation.

"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," Ron said uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."

"But they'll catch him, won't they?" Hermione said earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."

"To be honest, there isn't much they can do if he does a simple Muggle Repelling Charm on whatever location he's hiding at. Plus if he's meticulous, powerful, and smart enough to live up to his name, my fellow Muggles stand a very little chance of finding him," I said with a frown on my face. I'd be a fool to not acknowledge how impressive Black's skill was. He eliminated thirteen people with one curse. Power like that doesn't come easy.

"We'll definitely have to be on guard this year. As much as I'm tempted to say the opposite, we can't exactly go wandering at night like we did the last two years. But I'll be ready," I said, summoning a Macuahuitl.

"Whoa. What the hell is that?" Ron asked, pointing to the weapon.

"It's a Macuahuitl. It's a club with obsidian edges. The Aztecs used it in combat. The obsidian edges are sharper than your average high quality razor blade, surprisingly. The use for it is much better if on the rare occasion I want to take a target alive because I can stick this their shoulder and slice a large gash through it that'll render most people immobile from the pain," I explained to him while holding the thick and long club upright. It was big enough to nearly reach the ceiling from the size.

"It looks really authentic," Hermione said, looking at the blade across from me.

"It isn't. It's just a really accurate copy. The only authentic Macuahuitls lie in Aztec museums. I would've preferred to make my own anyway," I told them before a small snore caused me to look over to our other occupant. By the look of his appearance, life was far from easy for this man.

"Do you reckon he's our new Defense Teacher?" I asked, putting the weapon up.

"Looks like it. Professor R.J. Lupin is his name," Hermione said. Ron looked at Hermione is disbelief.

"You know everything! How is it she knows everything?" he asked us in disbelief. I shook my head.

"I don't think she has to know everything to read," I said, pointing up to his tattered trunk up at the top. Ron went slightly pink.

"Oh. Well, he doesn't look much. He looks like one good hex would finish him off," he noted after taking in Lupin's appearance.

"He does look he's been through hell," Harry said, craning his neck to get a better look at him.

"You and I both know that you should never underestimate someone based on their appearance. Remember Quirrell?" I questioned, making the other three frown.

Then I held up a hand for them not to talk. I could hear a faint, tinny sort of whistle coming from Harry's pocket. Harry fumbled in his pocket for a second before pulling out the Sneakoscope Ron mailed to him while we were in Japan. It was spinning very fast in the palm of Harry's hand and glowing intensely.

"Is that a Sneakoscope?" Hermione said interestedly, standing up for a better look.

"Yup. Ron got it for Harry's birthday," I told her.

"Mind you, it's a very cheap one. Was going haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry," Ron said.

"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" Hermione asked shrewdly.

"No! Well... I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. I had to send him down to the International Owl Post, which is pretty from our house. But how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?" Ron asked.

"He's got you there," I said idly. Hermione shook her head and Ron smiled. Harry then tossed the Sneakoscope to me.

"You got anything to hide it?" he asked me. I summoned one of my old teleportation bags and stuffed it inside before making it disappear again.

"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," Ron said. "They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."

"It'll definitely be interesting to see," I said idly. "I've never been in a wizard town."

"Do you know much about Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked keenly. "I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain -"

"Yeah, I think it is," Ron said in an offhand sort of way. "But that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"

"What's that?" Hermione asked.

"It's this sweetshop where they've got everything..." Ron said with a dreamy look coming over his face. "Pepper Imps - they make you smoke at the mouth - and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next-"

"That sounds like it was made for deceiving your teachers," Harry said, shaking his head.

"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione pressed on eagerly. "In Sites of Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain -"

"- and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them," Ron said, who was plainly not listening to a word Hermione was saying. To be honest, I was more interested in what Ron said about the sweets.

"Mmm," I said, closing my eyes and feeling shivers run through my body at the thought of all of those sweets. "I'm _definitely_ heading to Honeydukes." Ron raised his hand and we high-fived. But Hermione turned to Harry.

"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?"

"Most definitely. This sweet shop sounds amazing. I reckon there's a lot of history behind it too," Harry said. Hermione smiled. I had to give him credit. He was a master at placation. Unfortunately, I wasn't a man of such stature.

"To be honest, I'm more interested in the sweets," I said shrugging. Hermione rolled her eyes as she began fumbling with the straps to Crookshanks' basket.

"Don't let that thing out!" Ron exclaimed. But he was too late once Crookshanks leapt lightly from the basket, stretched, yawned, and jumped on to Ron's knees. I could see the lump in Ron's pocket trembling. Poor rat.

"Get out of it!" Ron said angrily, before shoving the cat away.

"Ron, don't!" Hermione said angrily. Me and Harry looked at each other. This wasn't much of a surprise.

Ron was about to answer back when Professor Lupin stirred. We watched him with slight apprehension, but he simply turned his head the other way with his mouth slightly open and kept sleeping.

At one o'clock, the plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door. I immediately stood up and summoned some money to my hand and bought some Cauldron Cakes.

"Do you think we should wake him up?" Ron asked awkwardly, nodding towards Professor Lupin. "He looks like he could do with some food."

Hermione approached Professor Lupin cautiously.

"Er - Professor?" she said tentatively. "Excuse me - Professor?" He didn't move.

"Don't worry, dear," the witch said as she handed a large stack of Cauldron Cakes to Harry. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."

"I suppose he is asleep?" Ron said quietly, as the witch slid the compartment door closed. "I mean - he hasn't died, has he?"

"No. I've seen enough dead bodies to last several lifetimes. He's still alive," I said as I bit into a Cauldron Cake. We broke into a long silence after I said that.

Right as it started to rain, Draco Malfoy appeared at the door accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle. I raised an eyebrow. If anything from the last two years is a good indicator, he was here to talk shit.

"Well, look who it is," Malfoy said in his usual lazy drawl, pulling open the compartment door. "Potty and the Weasel."

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly. I shook my head. To be honest, this guy's insults were terrible when he was actually trying.

"You ever take a break, asshole?" I questioned. Malfoy didn't even acknowledge me as he faced Ron.

"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," Malfoy said. "Did your mother die of shock?"

Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks' basket to the floor. To be honest, I don't blame him from flaring up from that one. Professor Lupin gave a snort.

"Who's that?" Malfoy said, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Lupin.

"New teacher," Harry said, who got to his feet. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. Even he wasn't dumb enough to pick a fight under a teacher's nose.

"C'mon," he muttered resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle, and they disappeared.

Ron sat down and began massaging his knuckles.

"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he said angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and -"

Ron made a violent gesture in midair. I grabbed his hands and gently pushed them down.

"Calm yourself," I told him.

"Ron," Hermione hissed, pointing at Professor Lupin. "Be careful..." But Lupin was still fast asleep.

The rain gradually got worse the longer the trip continued. It also so dark to the point where the lanterns in the hallways had to be lit.

"We must be nearly there," Ron said, leaning forward to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely black window.

The words had hardly left him when the train started to slow down.

"Great," Ron said, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast..." It was so dark, I had to activate night vision through my technological contacts to see anything.

I leaned toward the far left only to see nothing but a deserted grassland. The castle wasn't anywhere near.

"I don't even see the castle," I said, turning night vision off.

"So why are we stopping?" Ron asked. I frowned.

"I dunno, but I don't like it one bit," I said as Harry stuck his head outside of the compartment door curiously. Then the train jolted all of a sudden, forcing Harry back into his seat from the force and shutting the door. Then, without a warning, all of the lights suddenly went out.

"Are you shitting me?" I said, turning my night vision back on my contacts.

 _"Lumos,"_ Harry said, igniting his wand with a small light. Hermione and Ron did the exact same thing. It was a little bright for me with their wands lit, but I needed to see better than what their light could provide.

"Do you think we've broken down?" Harry questioned.

"A magical train breaking down? I doubt that kid. No, something stopped us. And I have a feeling I'm not going to like what did," I said, summoning two Desert Eagles to my hand. I then switched my vision to AS mode. I could see a bunch of kids through the walls, but two in particular made me aim my pistols at the door.

"Get ready," I whispered to the others. Harry, Ron, and Hermione aimed their wands at the door. Then Neville was in front of the compartment and tripped over his own feet when he saw the wands and guns pointed at him.

"Don't shoot! It's me! Neville!" he said, raising his arms in surrender.

"Dammit Neville," I said, pulling him inside before jumping in the hallway toward the other person. I was in a type of Gunslinger stance before I saw it was Ginny. She jumped as soon as she saw the guns pointed at her.

"Whoa! Calm down with those!" Ginny exclaimed, raising her hands in surrender.

"In!" I growled impatiently while pointing at the door. She quickly walked inside with me not far behind. I quickly strode to Professor Lupin and shook him to get him up. He awoke with a start.

"What?" he said sleepily.

"The train's stopped. I think someone or something's boarding," I told him. All of the sleepiness was gone from his face before pulling out his wand and lighting it. Ginny and Neville did the same. AS was still useful just in case someone else started approaching us. Sure enough, I could see about a dozen people start approaching us. But I could see that their legs were not in fact moving. I admit, that unnerved me a bit.

"Something's coming," I said, pointing my guns at the door. But why did it get colder all of a sudden?

"Stay where you are," Lupin said in a hoarse voice. He warily began to approach the door and it opened before he could reach it. Then all of a sudden, my entire body went cold. It was as if I stepped into a bath of ice water.

I turned off AS and saw that the figure in front of the door was in fact one of the Dementors of Azkaban. I assume it was here to search the train for Sirius Black. Instead it found a bunch of students and a Professor.

"Black isn't here. You can move on now," I said, lowering my pistols slightly. It didn't move.

Then I could hear it give a raspy breath while its hood was directly facing me.

 _"Do you remember the last time you were actually happy?"_ a familiar voice said in my mind. My eyes widened. Not her. Never her.

Then a bloodcurdling scream rang through my head, and I pressed the palms of my hands against my head just above my ears while shaking my head furiously. I remembered a fatal bullet, blood pooling on the ground, the tears that were shed that day. The pain. The suffering. The anger. It was all clear in my mind and I struggled to come back to my senses.

I could see the Dementor moving closer, and I was finally able pull the trigger, causing it to reel back slightly. I didn't let up as I put several more bullets in its chest and I forced it back into the hallway. Then a bright light moved past me and forced the Dementor to flee.

I was breathing heavily with a clammy feeling all over my body. I read about Dementors making you relive your worse fears, but that was far worse than anything I could've imagined.

A hand touching my shoulder made me jump and point my guns at the culprit, but it was only Lupin.

"I think your ward needs your help," I heard Lupin say. I immediately looked up to see that Harry was passed out. I immediately put my own thoughts to the side and rushed over to him.

I put a hand on his neck and felt that he was in a cold sweat. I held him in my arms in a comforting way before looking up to Lupin. I wasn't even going to bother with how Lupin knew Harry was my ward at the moment.

"What do we do?" I asked. This was a situation I couldn't read about and make it better.

"Wait until he wakes up. Then give him this," Lupin told me, handing me a bar of chocolate and taking a seat across from me. I looked down at Harry's face and saw that went rigid with fear soon accompanied by twitching. I kissed the top of his forehead and held him close to my chest.

"It's alright kid. I'm here for you," I said softly. I could feel him shift slightly and his twitching stopped. I was shivering slightly from my own cold sweat, but that was irrelevant now.

Then I could feel Harry's head rise up a little and I let him go. He wrapped his arms around his arms from how cold he felt before facing me.

"What happened?" he asked. I frowned grimly before handing him the bar of chocolate.

"A Dementor. One of the guards from Azkaban. They were searching the train for Black. Bastards found more than that," I said angrily. "Who the fuck even appointed these things to be the guards?"

"That was decided long ago after they stopped serving Voldemort. The Ministry figured it would be the best way to keep the prisoners locked up," Lupin explained before pointing to the chocolate I gave him. "You should eat that. It helps. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver." He then left the compartment.

I stood up and took Lupin's spot while keeping a keen eye on Harry. He took a small bite out of the chocolate before looking up and me and smiling hesitantly.

"I'm fine. Really," he said, but I shook my head furiously.

"I can hardly believe that. Eat," I told him. He started eating the chocolate faster and I looked at him over intertwined fingers. I didn't have to guess what that Dementor made him relive. His parents' deaths. His time at the Dursleys. I'm sure it wasn't an easy thing to deal with. Then I saw chocolate being put in front of my face.

"You look like you need it too," Harry said kindly. I waved it away.

"I'm fine," I assured him, but Hermione spoke up this time.

"You don't seem like it. You're trembling worse than Harry was," she said. Now that I paid attention, I _was_ trembling. I don't remember the last time I felt this afraid. I grabbed the piece that Harry held in front of my face and took a sizable bite out of it. The cold was gone from my body and I felt considerably warmer. I looked at Harry and nodded.

"Thanks," I told him.

"No problem. Don't worry about me. I think you've got your own demons to deal with," Harry said, taking another bite of chocolate.

 _"He's right you know. This is another problem you've refused to face,"_ a part of my mind said. I grunted stubbornly and decided on lying down and looking up at the ceiling. I knew for a fact I was going to hate this year.

* * *

A/N: The main point of this chapter was to show that even stone cold badasses are vulnerable if you hit them in the right spot. And nothing hits those spots better than a Dementor. But fear can be overcome if you have a reason to overcome it. As you can see, my character can't kill a Dementor or drive it away. Just push it back. And as for what his worst fear is, you'll have to wait for that one. See you all next time!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Famed Feast

A/N: There probably won't be author's notes at the beginning. Sometimes I don't have anything to say. Let's just get that out there.

* * *

We didn't say much coming off the train. The Dementors instilled a silence in all of us, and I was kind of glad for that.

I hoped that by burying this part of my past that it would take away the pain, and it worked for the most part. But now that it was brought to the surface again, it hurt like hell. Dealing with it was something I was reluctant to do. This affected me worse than my parents' death. And that was definitely saying something.

"First years this way!" the familiar voice of Hagrid called. His voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I could actually focus on what was going on around me.

"Alright, you four?" Hagrid called out to us. We waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because of the mass of people around us was shunting us away along the platform.

We all piled into a stagecoach, which smelled faintly of mold and straw. I watched the Thestral pull us toward the castle slowly while staying silent the entire time. Hermione and Ron were looking at Harry as though he might collapse again. Then again, he still looked a little pale.

As the we neared the iron gates of the castle, I noticed that there were two Dementors standing by on each side of the gate. Resisting the urge to shiver and shoot them at the same time, I held my nerve and leaned back into my seat before closing my eyes and trying to relax. But the image of Gwen's face was glued to my eyelids.

"NO. Don't even _think_ her name," I whispered to myself furiously. Harry seemed to have heard me and he looked at me in concern.

"What'd you say?" he asked me. Hermione and Ron looked up at me curiously as well.

"Wondering why the hell the Dementors are here," I said evenly. Technically, it wasn't I lie. I _was_ curious about that.

"Don't know. Maybe Dumbledore will explain," Hermione said.

"I certainly hope so. I hope they won't be sticking around much longer. Those things make me feel terrible," Ron said, swallowing hard.

"I don't blame you. Hate those things. Even some people don't deserve to be around them," I said, frowning hard.

"They seemed to affect you pretty bad," Ron noted.

"I've got a lot to fear Ron. You may think I don't, but I have fears just like any other person," I told him in a firm tone.

"I know why they're here," Harry said suddenly.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Cause they're here to guard the school for the year against Sirius Black," Harry said. I threw my hands up in frustration.

"Well that's just dandy. Having entities that suck the happiness out of you around children is a perfect idea!" I said in a mock admiring tone. "How can Dumbledore even put up with this? I assume he knows what these things do to people."

"Oh, he knows. And he's not happy about them being here at all. Unfortunately, the Ministry decided it was for the best," Harry said.

"Great," I said, closing my eyes. This year was going to suck.

The carriage stopped swayed to a halt, and we jumped off before walking inside the gates. But then I heard a delighted, drawling voice behind us.

"You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually fainted?"

Malfoy elbowed past Hermione to block Harry's way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously. Harry's eyes glinted darkly before he grabbed a fistful of Malfoy's robe and looked him in the eye with pure loathing.

"I'm not in the mood Malfoy. You say a damn thing to me in the near future, and I will break your goddamn neck," he growled at Malfoy before letting him go. Malfoy nearly tripped over his own robes from the shock before eying Harry distastefully.

"Keep your hands away from me," he said angrily, smoothing the front of his robes. Harry stepped forward, and I had to hold an arm out in front of him to stop him from advancing on Malfoy.

"Or what, you bastard? That's what I want to know," Harry growled, now trying to push past me.

"Is there a problem?" a mild voice said. Professor Lupin had just gotten out of the next carriage.

Malfoy gave Professor Lupin an insolent stare, which took in the patches on his robes and the dilapidated suitcase. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he said, "Oh, no - er - Professor," then he smirked at Crabbe and Goyle and led them up the steps into the castle.

I let my arm down and walked through the entrance before Harry did.

"Don't let him get to you," I told him as we made our way through the main hall.

"Kind of hard to keep my emotions in check right now. I don't see how you can even do it after that," Harry said moodily.

"Cause I'm used to doing it. I don't even have to put thought into it. Just take a deep breath son," I told him. He breathed deeply before relaxing his muscles and calming himself down as we walked toward the Hall.

"Ok, I'm calm," he assured me before a voice called out to us.

"Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!" Professor McGonagall yelled, walking toward us.

I eyed McGonagall somewhat hesitantly. Her stern expression turned into an exasperated one.

"Oh, for heavens sake Mr. Morgan. It's nothing terrible. I'm simply discussing what happened on the train with Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger's classes. That's all," she assured me.

"That eases my apprehensions a bit. Go on ahead," I told Harry before walking in the Hall. Me and Ron took a seat in front of Neville.

"Who did you tell that Harry passed out?" I asked him.

"I was talking with Dean and Seamus when it happened. I didn't expect Malfoy to hear to hear what I was saying," Neville said, knowing that was why I questioned him about it.

"Well, just don't discuss it at all. Harry's emotional because of these damned Dementors, and I can't blame him at all. Next time, just don't talk about it at all," I told him. Neville looked ashamed at his actions.

"I'm sorry," he said in a regretful tone.

"I suppose it wasn't in your knowledge to know. But we're all on edge about what happened. The last thing we need to hear is Malfoy's bullshit," I told him before crossing my arms and going into a reserved quiet. I was still bothered by what I saw.

After the Sorting had finished, Harry and Hermione walked back into the Hall and sat beside me.

"Oh, we've missed the Sorting!" Hermione said softly. Then I noticed a bunch of people were pointing at Harry and chattering like crazy. Harry seemed to have noticed it too.

"The next person who points to me like a fucking science experiment is going to get their eyes cursed through the back of their damn skull!" Harry growled loudly. The people pointing at him and chattering quickly looked away at Harry's anger. He had gotten really good at telling people off.

"God, can these people find anything else to talk about?" I questioned.

"Apparently there's nothing better to talk about than me passing out from a Dementor!" Harry said in a furious whisper. "Why can't I have a regular life?"

"Unfortunately kid, this is as regular as you're going to get to be honest," I told him. Harry sighed before putting a fist on his right cheek depressingly. Luckily, the Headmaster's speech would give us all something else to think about.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

I frowned. I still wasn't happy about the Dementors being here. By the slight dim of Dumbledore's twinkling eyes, he wasn't either.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "And while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, which made the three of us look at each other. That meant no sneaking around while these things were around. We would regret it to the fullest degree.

"It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said.

Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Harry, puffed out his chest again and stared around impressively. I rolled my eyes. This just probably inflated that already large ego to a bigger size. Dumbledore paused again; he looked very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or made a sound.

"On a happier note," he continued. "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Only those who had been in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clapped hard, me and Harry among them. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes. Again, life was probably not easy for this man.

"Look at Snape!" Ron hissed in Harry's ear.

I looked up at the Potions Master. If he looked at me with that expression, I would've felt the need to shoot him.

He was staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but the expression on his face was unusual, especially for a composed man like him. It was beyond anger. It was loathing.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

The four of us at the table immediately began clapping loudly with the entire Gryffindor table joining in. Even member from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables joined in.

"We should've known!" Ron roared, pounding the table. "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?" I smiled before shaking my head. After the baby dragon, I had to admit he had a point about that.

The clapping from Ron, Hermione, and Harry took the longest to die down. We could see that Dumbledore was getting ready to speak again and Hagrid was wiping his eyes on his tablecloth.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Suddenly, hunger hit my stomach like a freight train and I gladly dug into my food.

Most of the Hall was particularly chatty, but all of us in the compartment with Lupin were particularly silent. I could still feel cold chills running down my back from that Dementor. I really wanted to punch the Minister in the face. Why in the hell would he have these things guarding the school? Why not spare a few Aurors instead? It's not like they're too busy. The average wizard law enforcement could handle anything that didn't involve dark magic.

"You got a lot on your mind, huh?" Harry said, looking at me. I stabbed my pie with my fork moodily before speaking.

"You could say that. I don't know how Fudge thought bringing these damn things to Hogwarts was a good idea," I said, biting the piece of pie off my fork with a little more force than necessary. After I removed my mouth off the fork, I could see that one of the tines were bent. Yeah, too much force.

"That I wish I knew. These things are going to make the year miserable," Harry said with a moody tone.

"They won't be in the castle. They'll just be guarding the entrances and possible exits," Hermione told us.

"And that'll stop them from disobeying orders when emotions are running high... how? These things are cruel and don't deserve to exist. All they want to do is feed off your misery. They care about that first and being protectors second. If Fudge had any common sense, he'd send them back to Azkaban," I said with a loud tone. The heat radiating off of my stare made her raise her hands in surrender.

"Look, calm down. Look, I don't like this anymore than you do. Those things are terrible creatures. But there's not much we can do about it. This is a governor decision, and they decided it was best. You have all the political influence in the Muggle world, but none here. We have to accept it," Hermione explained, going back to her dessert with a moody air. Now the entire table was depressed.

"These stupid Dementors completely ruined the night," Ron said, putting a frustrated hand on the side of his forehead.

The dessert was finally cleared and Harry nudged me out of my depressed thoughts.

"Let's go congratulate Hagrid," he told me. I hesitantly rose from my position and followed the others over to Hagrid.

"Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed as we reached the teachers' table.

"Yeah. Congrats Hagrid. I'm glad for you," I said. I really meant it, but I couldn't feel too happy right now.

"All down to you four," Hagrid said, wiping his shining face on his napkin as he looked up at them. "Can't believe it...great man, Dumbledore...came straight down to me hut after Professor Kettleburn said he had enough...It's what I always wanted..." He then got overcome with emotion and buried his face into his handkerchief before Professor McGonagall shooed us away.

We then arrived in the familiar portrait of the Fat Lady leading to Gryffindor Tower.

"Password?"

"Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind the crowd. "The new password's Fortuna Major!"

"Oh no," Neville said sadly. I patted him on the shoulder in a supporting way. Poor kid had a terrible memory for these things.

We went up the staircase, and I changed into a muscle shirt and shorts before getting in the bed. This was so much more comfortable than sleeping with my regular clothes on.

"Good to be back," Harry said, as he climbed into bed.

"Don't I know it. Besides the Dementors of course," I said, lying down.

"Yeah, maybe they'll catch Black soon and they'll be out of here soon," Harry said hopefully.

"If only we were that fortunate. Anyway, night kid," I said, closing my eyes.

"Night," Harry said.

* * *

A/N: I was tempted to go further, but I figured this was far enough. Hope you all enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4 - Hagrid's First Day

"You look awful," Harry told me. I looked at him with an irritated look while trying to pull on some pants.

"No shit. Only slept three hours. Damn Dementors," I said, angrily putting on a short sleeved shirt.

"They got to you?" Harry questioned, making me nod. "Your parents?" I didn't have to tell him what exactly was bothering me, but I wasn't going to lie to him.

"Worse," I told him, putting on a dragon hide jacket. His eyes widened.

"Worse?" he said in a surprised tone. I straightened up before looking him in the eye seriously.

"Worse," I confirmed, walking out of the room right when I got the jacket on.

I rubbed my temples furiously hard. I couldn't remember the last time I had a dream that bothered me where I couldn't sleep. I'm afraid I was beginning to fall slowly into madness cause of this shit.

"You couldn't have waited up?" Harry questioned, coming up from behind me. Hermione and Ron were with him as well.

"No. Didn't feel like it. I needed to get out of the common room," I told him.

"I'm not going to ask what bothered you so bad, but it must be something terrible if it's worse than the death of your parents," Harry said.

"It is. Let's just keep it at that for now," I told him. He nodded in understanding. Hermione and Ron looked at each other in worry.

The first thing I saw when I walked into the Hall was Draco Malfoy, who seemed to be entertaining a large group of Slytherins with a very funny story. As they passed, Malfoy did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit and there was a roar of laughter. God, the idiocy on this bastard never ceases to amaze me.

"Ignore him," Hermione said, who was right behind Harry. "Just ignore him, it's not worth it..."

"Hey, Potter!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked, a Slytherin girl with a face like a pug. "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooooo!"

"Wrong. This is worth it," Harry said to Hermione before addressing Parkinson with a spiteful tone. "Your face still looks like an abused dog bitch." Even I had to narrow my mouth as if I was about to say, 'Oooo.'

The Slytherins' eyes widened and Parkinson looked like she had to hold herself back from bursting into tears from that. To be honest, I'm surprised no one has told her that before. Harry just kept walking toward his table with not a care in the world. I walked right next to him and had to fist bump him for that.

"Nice," I told him with a smile.

"Did you really have to go that far, Harry?" Hermione questioned.

"Hey, I would've kept my silence if she didn't say anything to me. But since she did, I made her regret it. And I've got a ton of retorts for her. With a face like that, it's hard not to," Harry explained, sitting next to George.

"Who's face are you talking about?" he asked.

"Pansy Parkinson's," Ron said.

"Why are you talking about her face? I sincerely hope it's because you're speak terrible things about it," Fred said as George passed us our schedules.

"Yup. I just told her face looks an abused dog," Harry said, making George's eyes get wide.

"You did not," he said.

"No, he actually did," I told him, making Harry shrug.

"Hey, I'm tired of her talking so much shit. So I do it back," Harry said, grabbing a breakfast roll and biting into it.

"And I can definitely understand that. Pass the rolls," Fred asked Harry and he handed them over.

Then I saw Hagrid enter the Hall while wearing his famed moleskin overcoat while swinging a dead polecat in one of his hand.

"Hey Hagrid," Harry greeted him as he passed.

"All right?" he said eagerly. "You're in my first ever lesson! Right after lunch! Been up since five getting everything ready... hope it's OK... me, a teacher... honestly..." He then grinned broadly before heading up to the staff table, stilling swing the polecat.

"Wonder what he's been getting ready?" Ron said with a note of anxiety in his voice.

"I'm fine with it as long as it's not another baby dragon and I have to climb the Tower at night again," I told them.

"Amen to that," Harry said, as the Hall began to empty out.

"We'd better go," Ron said, looking at his schedule. "Divination's at the top of the North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there..."

"I'm not taking Divination," Harry said with an even tone. Ron looked at Harry in surprise.

"Really? It's an easy grade," Ron said, making me roll my eyes and focus on more my food than this conversation. "What'd you take?"

"Ancient Runes. It'll be a lot more useful than Divination," Harry said, making me smile. Ron simply shrugged.

"Suit yourself," Ron said, walking off with Hermione. Harry then faced me.

"So, uh... will I enjoy Runes?" he asked me hesitantly. I smiled.

"How fun was training after your body got used to the pain?" I asked him. He smiled.

"That fun?" he asked. I nodded. He smiled.

"Can't wait," he said, getting up and walking to his next class.

I headed to Arithmancy, and I was immediately told by the Professor that she needed to see me after class. I was curious, but I could wait until after class to address it.

Once the entire class pooled out, I immediately walked to Professor Vector while she was pacing.

"Yes, Professor?" I asked politely.

"You shouldn't really be in this class," she said, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" I questioned, my tone slightly offended. She realized her words and shook her head.

"Forgive me. That came out very wrong. What I mean is, that you should be moving on the OWL level of Arithmancy. As a matter of fact, on multiple occasions, you've recited theories and appliances on a specific subject on a NEWT level. That's not common to learn something that quick. Even at your age," she told me. I shrugged.

"I'm a fast learner," I said simply. She seemed far from satisfied by my response.

"I've referred to Professor Babbling about the same thing, and she is also impressed by your skill. You seem to learn uncommonly quick," she continued.

"I'm far from common Professor. I learn things unnaturally fast," I said. She put her thumb and index finger under her chin while looking at me curiously.

"This isn't too common, but considering the situation, would you consider taking your OWLs early?" she asked me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Just how often is that?" I questioned.

"Not very often. We don't run into many students that uphold that kind of standard. If you agree to this, you will study for your OWLs next year and take them. Same goes for your NEWTs during your sixth year," Professor Vector explained, before her tone turned even more serious. "But while I recommend you take your OWLs early for Arithmancy, I have to ask if your teachers if they would agree with me when it comes to your other classes. And Professor Snape is extremely hard to please when it comes to situations like this."

"I understand that. But I'm willing to take my OWLs in my 5th year like everyone else, but I will take those NEWTs during my sixth one," I told her. She tilted her head at me.

"Are you sure? That's two years of hard studying, back to back. The OWLs are moderately hard, but the NEWTs are even more difficult. Are you sure?" Professor Vector asked me hesitantly.

"Yes, I am. If the other Professors are willing, I will do it like that. And I am honored to find out I am one of the few to be chosen for something like this," I said formally.

"You certainly know your formalities. Tell me what you really feel about it," Professor Vector said evenly.

"To be honest?" I asked her, making her nod. "I kind of saw something like this coming. I was an unnaturally bright child."

"I see that. You're a very intelligent one. Alright, it's agreed. I will ask your other teachers about the situation. Who are all of them?" she asked. I then began ticking of the list with my fingers.

"You, Professors Snape, Babbling, Hagrid, formerly Kettleburn, Binns, Sinistra, and Sprout. Since we can't keep a Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher for more than a year, you would have to refer to Professor Lupin by the end of the year since the previous ones are rather... inaccessible," I said in a light tone. Professor Vector snorted.

"That's a definite understatement. Alright, I'll refer to each of them. Now, since I know you have no class to go to now that you're referring to the original schedule, just don't cause any trouble. Don't worry. We'll get it worked out soon," she assured me. I nodded respectfully.

"Thank you," I said, walking out of the classroom. I smiled. That's a year off my time in this school. I might fill in for the Muggle Studies teacher for a year if Dumbledore will let me. After that, I'll sign up for an Auror if I'm qualified enough. Though if they've got rules against killing... well, I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

Since I had no class to fill in around this time, I was able to spend the rest of the time in the library.

On the way there, my phone buzzed and I got an email about the clothes that I wanted to have made. They were finally finished.

I smiled. I'm sure it was going to be a big surprise when I went to Halloween dressed in that getup. To be honest, I was anticipating the moment.

When the bell rang, I closed my book shut and put it back on the shelf before heading toward Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start.

"C'mon now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for you today! Great lesson coming up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

For a second, I had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to lead us into the forest. But he lead us to a type of paddock instead. I pulled my book out, which I had calm, but Harry's was still growling. He looked at it with an apprehensive eye.

"Is that the book we need?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, but just stroke the spine. It'll relax," I told him. "Got bit about 10 times before I figured that out." Harry stroked the back of the book and it calmed its irrational movement before opening for him. I then handed him the book and he walked forward.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called. "That's it - make sure you can see - now, first thing you'll want to do is open your books -"

"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Eh?" Hagrid said.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.

"Hasn't - hasn't anyone been able to open their books?" Hagrid said, looking crestfallen. Me and Harry raised our calm books, the rest of the class looking at us surprised.

"It's not hard to figure out... after you've gotten bit the first 10 times..." I trailed silently, but Hagrid smiled.

"How _did_ you get them to calm down?" Hermione asked.

"Stroke the spine," I told her. She stroked the spine of her book, and it stopped fighting against the Spellotape. She removed the tape and it fell open.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

"I - I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to me.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" Malfoy said. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry snapped at him.

"Enough out of both of you. Hagrid, what creature are we studying today?" I said curiously, trying to help him get his stride back. This seemed to help.

"Right then. I'll be back with the creatures," he said, walking away.

"God, this place is going to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him -"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated.

"Careful, Potter, there's a Dementor behind you -"

"And there's an ugly bitch behind you. I don't know witch is worse," I said, referring to Pansy standing with him. She looked angry rather than upset at me insulting her. Most of the other Slytherins looked furious as well, but others looked away like it hadn't even happened.

"How d-"

"How dare I?" I cut him off. "Simple really. Like that. Deal with it. Don't start a fight, and there won't be a fight for you to lose."

Then someone cleared their throat loudly. Hagrid had finally arrived with the animals he had. They had the front legs, wings, and heads of an eagle, but the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses. A hippogriff. I smiled. A good choice for a first lesson in my book. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"Very," I said, eying the hippogriffs' smooth coats and various colors.

"So," Hagrid said, rubbing his hands together and beaming around. "if you care to come a bit nearer..."

But no one seemed to want to. I shook my head before approaching the paddock pretty close, but staying at a reasonable distance.

"Now, first thing you gotta know about Hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures," Hagrid said. "You do not want to insult a hippogriff. Because if you do, it just may be the last thing you ever do. Now!" He clapped his hands together, making a few people jump. "Who wants to come say hello?"

I could hear Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the back talking in an undertone. Without even looking away from the paddock, I stepped on a rock near me and tossed it behind me, directly at Malfoy's knee.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed.

"I will," I volunteered, only my mouth wasn't the only one that spoke. Harry had also volunteered for the job. Hagrid beamed.

"Good on you both. I'll introduce you both to Buckbeak. He'll see you both as a pair when you bow to him..." Hagrid said, going into the paddock and coming back with the gray hippogriff.

"You always wait for the Hippogriff to make the first move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? You walk toward him, and you bow, and you wait. If he bows back, you're allowed to touch him. If he doesn't bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt." The other class looked nervous about that scenario, but I was fearless.

Since I garner others the type of respect that they give me, then I would have no problem with this. You were nice to me, I was nice to you. You were an asshole to me, I was gonna be an asshole back. Simple.

"Easy now, the both of you," Hagrid said quietly. "You've got eye contact... now try not to blink... Hippogriffs don't trust you if you blink too much..." The both of us stood side by side while making unblinking eye contact with the hippogriff. He was eying us with one orange as to whether he could trust us.

"That's it... that's it... Now, bow," Hagrid said.

Holding my left foot out in front of me directly on the very back of the shoe, I lowered myself into a respectful bow while the tip of my right foot was on the ground. Harry then lowered himself in the same type of bow. I had also taught him etiquette and formalities as well as violence. Lord knows he's going to need those lessons later in life for some bullshit political mess that's sure to come.

But Buckbeak didn't move. He was still eying us with his feet still in place.

"Ah," Hagrid, sounding worried. "Right - back away, now you two, easy does it -"

But soon after he said that, the hippogriff bent its scaly knees into what was unmistakably a bow. We didn't look at each other, as we needed to keep eye contact on the hippogriff, but we both smiled mutually all the same.

"Well done!" Hagrid said in an ecstatic tone. "Right - you can touch him! Pat his beak, go on both of you."

We both approached Buckbeak and Harry patted his beak while I stroked the smooth her that lined his neck. Buckbeak closed his eyes lazily, as though enjoying it.

The entire class broke into applause except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking deeply disappointed. They would prefer if the hippogriff cut us up. I wish the same fate upon the asshole.

"I reckon he might let the two of you ride him!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"That's a bit much, isn't it?" I asked. Hagrid shook his head.

"Nonsense! He seems to like the both of you. Here, lemme show you," Hagrid said, picking me and Harry up and placing us behind Buckbeak's wing joint.

"Stay there. And mind you don't pull any of his feathers out, cause he doesn't like that," Hagrid told us. Harry took a firm hold around my waist while I had my hands his neck.

"Go on, then!" Hagrid roared, slapping the Hippogriffs hindquarters.

The creature's twelve foot wings flapped open on both sides and we started soaring upwards. But the euphoria of flying was still there. Buckbeak gave a proud cry toward the heavens and I smiled before letting my hands off of his neck, keeping my grip by having my legs firmly around either side of the hippogriff.

"This isn't like riding a broomstick," Harry said. I laughed slightly.

"Yeah. This is even better," I said as we began to get more and more height up in the air. After a bit, Harry got his arms off from around my waist he began to start whooping loudly as Buckbeak just barely grazed the Black Lake.

We rode around for about a minute longer before Buckbeak flew us back to the class.

"Good work, both of you!" Hagrid roared as everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. "Okay, who else wants a go?"

Emboldened by our success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock. Neville ran repeatedly backward from his, which didn't seem to want to bend its knees. Ron and Hermione practiced on the chestnut, while the both of us watched with smiles right next Hagrid.

"This is a very good first lesson Hagrid. You're making a wonderful teacher," I complimented him. He smiled widely.

"Aw, that means a lot to me. Didn't honestly ever see myself as a teacher, but I'm having fun teaching you about these creatures. And I've got a lot more to show you if you stick around," Hagrid explained.

"We'll be here," Harry said instantly.

"This is very easy," Malfoy drawled, loud enough for us to hear him. I rolled my eyes. Of course it's easy. If the hippogriff respects you and you don't insult it.

"I knew it must've been if Potter and the pathetic Muggle could do it... I bet you're not dangerous at all are you?" he said to the hippogriff. "You great ugly brute?"

"You stupid mother-" I said as I ran up when the hippogriff went up on its hind legs and let out a loud, outraged cry. It came down with its talons, to which the shield on my belt forced it back. But I held my arms out calmly to it when it landed on the four of its legs.

"Easy Buckbeak," I said calmly, but firmly. He still looked outraged and was still looking to advance when I whistled a calming classical tune to it. The anger seemed to fade and he calmed himself down to where he ignored Malfoy and trotted away calmly.

"That thing could've killed me!" Malfoy yelled, his tone shocked and angry.

"Guess who's fault is that?" I snapped at him. "Did you not to listen to Hagrid? He said _specifically_ to not, I repeat, NOT insult a hippogriff. Him attacking you was your own fault. Next time, I'll let the damn thing rip you apart if you keep acting like this."

The end of class spared Malfoy the rest of my rant and I turned on my heel before heading toward the castle in quick and powerful strides. Man, I really had to be careful what I wished for.

Harry and the other caught up with me soon after at dinner.

"It didn't hurt you, did it?" Harry asked, looking at me as if trying to check for scars.

"Nah. Thank my shield for that. But the nerve of that idiot! His dumbass would've gotten hurt if I didn't interfere," I said.

"Why did you interfere? It would've taught the sodding ponce a lesson," Ron said.

"He'd just use it as an excuse to get Hagrid sacked. Which is something he doesn't need on his first day on the job," Hermione explained. I nodded.

"She's right. But the Ministry also executes creatures they deem dangerous," I told them. The three of them looked at me with a disturbed look.

"But Buckbeak isn't dangerous," Ron said. I looked at him with an upset look.

"Yeah, but if Malfoy got injured and could've possibly died without interference, Lucius Malfoy would make a case out of it. That wouldn't have resulted in something good. Plus, I hate the bastard, but I'm not going to let the hippogriff kill him," I explained before I flexed my fingers.

"I know that tell. You feel like strangling him," Harry said, fixing his plate. I took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You're right. Eating calms me down for the most part," I said, starting to fix my plate.

After we finished eating, I had an idea how to get control of this situation.

"It's still a bit early. You head down to Hagrid's hut and see how he's doing. Harry, mind if I borrow Hedwig?" I asked him.

"You don't have to ask. Plus she likes you anyway," Harry said. "What do you have in mind?"

"Getting control of the situation," I said, taking out a piece of paper and beginning to write at a rapid pace. Then I leaped out of the window while summoning my grapple gun and zipping up to the top of the Owlery through the window while still keeping the letters in my tight grip.

"I feel too much like Batman," I said as I made it to the top, shaking my shoulders firmly as if trying to shake the feeling off. I saw Hedwig leaning on a perch and she seemed to be attempting to go to sleep.

"Hey girl. Sorry to interrupt me, but I need a favor," I said, before holding the letters up. "Could you take these to Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape?"

She hooted softly in confirmation while I tied the letters to her feet. She then flew out of the window and I jumped out of the window and went back to the castle. I sincerely hope he's not beating himself up too much about the situation. If he is, those three will be able to help him out with it.


	5. Chapter 5 - My Worst Fear

The next day in Potions, I seemingly noticed that Malfoy was unnaturally quiet today. Pansy was trying to conversate with him, and he didn't say a word. That was pretty interesting.

"Malfoy's quieter that usual," Harry said, his mouth barely moving and not taking his eyes off his potion. I spoke in the exact same way.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? Normally he acts like the fool in Snape's class cause he can get away with it. What changed?" I asked.

"Dunno. The hippogriff situation maybe? It's probably his way of paying you back somewhat," Harry said.

"The day I don't have to hear him insult me constantly is fine by me. But I doubt this changes what he thinks about me," I said.

"No, I'd say he's to bigoted for that. But hey, it's a start," Harry said.

"The day Malfoy is actually nice to me is the day Hell freezes over. Though I'd love to see the day. The idea of Hell freezing over is interesting," I said, making Harry smirk. Snape didn't say anything to us, so either he didn't notice us talk or he did, but just didn't care. Either way worked.

But things really got interesting when Neville messed up his potion. He was below average at potions already, but his fear of Snape made things far, far worse. The potion, a Shrinking Solution, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green was-

"Orange, Longbottom," Snape said, ladling up some and pouring it back in the cauldron for everyone to see. "Orange." The Snape during the first year would've likely been relentless as soon as Neville messed. Instead, he settled for pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Can you read, Longbottom?" Snape asked in barely a whisper while the Slytherins watched in excitement.

"Yes sir," Neville said in a timid whisper.

"Obviously not, judging by the pitiful results of your potion," Snape said in a sneer. "How many cat spleens did you add?"

"T-two," Neville said nervously. I felt sorry for the boy. I knew this had to be killing him. But regardless whether Snape liked us or not and was acting more fairly, that wasn't going to change how he reprimanded students.

"Even though one was necessary. And you also added too much leech juice. What does it take to make you understand, Longbottom?" Snape questioned.

Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.

"Please, sir," Hermione said, "Please, I could help Neville put it right -"

"I don't see how that would possibly help him learn Ms. Granger," Snape said silkily. "No, a more practical action is more suiting. Longbottom, the day Hogsmade opens up, you will come back here and you will not leave until you make a proper potion or until the Halloween feast starts. Whichever may come first."

Snape then walked away, making Neville look breathless with fear. To be honest, that seemed like a reasonable punishment. Knowing Snape, he was definitely holding back. He could've been vicious and made Neville's toad take the potion. Now that would be cruel.

"Hey, Harry," Seamus Finnegan said, leaning over to borrow Harry's brass scales, "Have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning - they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

"Where?" Me, Harry, and Ron said quickly. On the other side of the table, Malfoy looked up, listening closely.

"Not too far from here," Seamus said, who looked excited. "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."

"Damn... Wish they would've caught him. Would've eased my mind a bit," I said, slightly disappointed. Though I wasn't too surprised.

"Not too far from here ..." Ron repeated, looking significantly at Harry. He turned around and saw Malfoy watching closely. "What, Malfoy?"

I turned around and looked at Malfoy, who was looking at Harry while his eyes were shining malevolently. But for the first time since I've seen him, it actually looked like he has something important to say.

"Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?" he asked.

"No. I'd prefer the Dementors to find him and make him suffer," Harry said in a offhanded voice while not taking his eyes off his potion. But Malfoy's mouth was curving into a mean smile.

"You look like you know something we don't," I said evenly. His smile got even wider at my statement.

"Of course, if it was me," he said quietly, "I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy, I'd be out there looking for him."

"There's no point in doing that. He hasn't done anything to me yet," Harry said, finishing his potion with a final ingredient.

"Don't you know Potter?" Malfoy asked. He was doing this on purpose. He knew he we want to know what he's talking about.

"Know what?" Harry asked. Malfoy opened his mouth for a brief second as if about to tell us, but then he decided against it. If what he knew did want to make Harry go after Black, maybe that's for the best.

"No. Leave it to the Dementors," he said, going back over to his desk. I furrowed my eyebrows. Whatever Malfoy knew couldn't be good.

"What did Malfoy mean?" Harry muttered to Ron. "Why would I want revenge on Black? He hasn't done anything to me - yet."

"I think he's spewing horse shit your way," I lied. I have a feeling if we pushed for the truth, I'd have a harder time getting Harry to not go near Black.

"Yeah, he likes to cause trouble pretty often. It's weird that he chose Black though," Harry said, before walking back toward the class.

We then tested our Shrinking Solutions on various animals, and Hermione got in trouble for helping Neville correct his potion. I shook my head. Snape will always be Snape.

"Man, I can't stand that git! Five points off because the potion was alright!" Ron exclaimed once we got out of the class.

"Five points off for disobeying instructions," I corrected him. Ron looked at me in disbelief.

"Now here you go defending him!" Ron said in an exasperated tone of voice.

"That could've been a lot worse than it was. Trust me, I know Snape," I said, before turning around to face Hermione who wasn't there. "Where is Hermione?" The other two looked behind them and noticed she wasn't there either.

"She was right behind us," Ron said, frowning.

Malfoy passed us, walking between Crabbe and Goyle. He smirked at Harry and disappeared. I sincerely hope he didn't be an asshole and tell Harry.

"There she is," Harry said, pointing.

Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes. I caught a glimpse of an hourglass, which made me raise an eyebrow.

"How did you do that?" Ron said.

"What?" Hermione said, joining us.

"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again."

"What?" Hermione looked slightly confused. "Oh - I had to go back for something. Oh no -"

A seam had split on Hermione's bag. It was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books. I shook my head before summoning my forging tool and a knife.

I emptied the bag of the books before turning to Harry.

"Repair the bag for me?" I asked him. Harry took out his wand.

"Reparo," he said, repairing Hermione's bag. I put them back in the bag before carving a rune on the front of it with my carving tool.

"What are you-" I held up a hand for her to be silent. After the rune was carved, I held out my hand and stuck the blade in my hand. I then quickly jerked it across the sharp edge and cut open my hand to drip blood on the rune.

The rune then began to glow and I stood up before healing myself with a hypo.

"Unbreakable rune. Locked in blood, so no one can ever deactivate it as a joke," I told her.

"Thank you," Hermione said gratefully.

"Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her.

"You know how many subjects I'm taking," Hermione said breathlessly.

"But -" Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. "You haven't got any of these subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."

"Oh yes," Hermione said vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. "I hope there's something good for lunch, I'm starving," she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall. I quickly followed behind her before grabbing her by her arm before she went inside.

"What?" she asked. I then stuck my hand down the front of her robes and grabbed the chain she was quickly trying to stuff down when I saw her coming down the staircase. A closer look made me immediately know what was up.

"So you have a Time Turner. That's how you're getting to your classes," I said, knowing that was exactly what was going on.

"Yes, but you can't tell anyone. I got it from Professor McGonagall, and I was made not to tell anyone," Hermione said.

"Other than Harry and Ron, I won't tell anyone. Those are the only people that are really trustworthy," I said, letting her go.

"That's fine," Hermione said, heading back into the Hall. I smiled. I had to admire how hardworking this girl was. I followed her into the Hall and waited until our next class.

* * *

We had a conversation about the Time Turner over lunch while making sure no one overheard us. Whenever a Headmaster will get you a Time Turner so you can make it to all of your classes, that meant you were definitely a favorite. Or at the very least, recognized as a hard worker.

Professor Lupin wasn't in this classroom when we arrived at his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. We sat down, took out our books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had finally had some decent meals and some good sleep.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

I raised an eyebrow before making all of my supplies disappear with only a thought. This ought to be interesting. But then Lupin turned towards me with a smile.

"You made your items disappear, even though you're not magical. Have to say, I'm impressed," he said. I shrugged as the class' attention was turned towards me.

"I'm an inventor. It's kind of what I do," I said.

"Where do they go? If you don't mind me asking," Lupin asked.

"No, I don't. Really, it's still here. I install microscopic machines inside of the object, and it breaks it down by the atom. Then, using telepathic brainwaves, I can make those atoms reform at any time, any place. Complicated technology, but it works," I explained.

"Impressive. Very impressive. But I had a hard time understanding half of that," Lupin said with a smile. I smiled.

"It's fine," I said. Lupin then began to address the class.

"Ah, excuse me for getting sidetracked. "Right then," Professor Lupin said, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."

He led us along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing we saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. I shook my head. This poltergeist was a big pain in the ass for everyone.

Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.

"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin -" Surprisingly, Lupin was still smiling.

"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."

"And we all know he'll try and butcher all of us if he can't," I said dryly.

Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry.

Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.

"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."

He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves.

With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing. I laughed shortly at the sight. Good stuff.

"Cool, sir!" Dean Thomas said in amazement.

"Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"

They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led us down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staff room door.

"Inside, please," Professor Lupin said, opening it and standing back.

The staff room, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."

I raised an eyebrow curiously at Snape. Not his style to be hanging where other teachers would be teaching.

He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. It will likely end in disaster."

Neville went scarlet, but Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow.

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."

Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.

"Now then," Professor Lupin said, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.

"Nothing to worry about," Professor Lupin said calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there."

My eyes widened. A Boggart? I do not fancy having my worse fear being portrayed for the entire class to see.

Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnegan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," Professor Lupin said. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks - I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the Headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"

Hermione put up her hand.

"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Professor Lupin said, and Hermione glowed. "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.

"This means," Professor Lupin said, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

"Er - because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" Harry asked, while Hermione was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Precisely," Professor Lupin said, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake - tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."

"The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please...Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" the class said together except for me. I didn't have a wand, so I wouldn't be practicing the charm.

"Good," Professor Lupin said. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.

"This is going to sound cheesy, but face your fear Neville," I told him with my arms crossed.

"He's right Neville. First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.

"I didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," Professor Lupin said, leaning forward slightly.

Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."

Pretty much everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically.

"Professor Snape," Lupin said with a laugh. "Yes... he frightens us all. Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Er - yes. "But - I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either," Neville said, making us all laugh again.

"No, no, you misunderstand me," Lupin said, still smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

Neville looked startled, but said, "Well...always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress...green, normally...and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

"And a handbag?" Professor Lupin prompted.

"A big red one," Neville said.

"Right then," Professor Lupin said. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"Yes," Neville said uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next.

"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," Lupin said. "And you will raise your wand - thus - and cry 'Riddikulus' - and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."

There was a great shout of laughter, and I couldn't blame him. The image of Snape wearing clothes like that is hilarious. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.

"If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," Professor Lupin said. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..." Then Lupin turned to me.

"You can stand to the side. You can't perform the charm, so there's no point for you to participate," he told me. I couldn't help but sigh in relief. I didn't want to go up there in the first place.

"Everyone ready?" Professor Lupin said after a certain amount of time. Everyone nodded, but Harry looked very uncertain. I looked at him in concern, but I knew he would have to deal with his fear on his terms rather than in more dangerous moments.

"Neville, we're going to back away," Professor Lupin said. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward...Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot -"

Everyone retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," Professor Lupin said, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One - two - three - now!"

A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.

"R - r - riddikulus! " Neville squeaked.

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

There was a roar of laughter and I had to burst out laughing too. The image was _way_ to hilarious. Even for me. The Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"

Parvati walked forward, her face set before the Boggart Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising -

"Riddikulus!" Parvati cried.

A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" Professor Lupin roared.

Seamus darted past Parvati.

Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face - a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that gave me a real unnerving feeling.

"Riddikulus!" Seamus shouted.

The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.

Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then - crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before - crack! - becoming a single, bloody eyeball.

"It's confused!" Lupin shouted. "We're getting there! Dean!"

Dean hurried forward.

Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.

"Riddikulus!" Dean yelled.

There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!" Ron leapt forward.

Crack! Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a second, it looked like Ron had frozen.

"Riddikulus!" Ron bellowed, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled over and over before Harry stepped forward. I looked at him with an encouraging look. But the Boggart didn't face Harry. On the contrary, the spider's head twirled around to look at me. I stood up straight and my eyes widened.

Crack! The spider changed into a red haired woman, a single bullet hole lodged in her brain. The sight made me dig my nails into my palms and caused me to try and back up, even though my back was against the wall.

But then her head suddenly turned to face me, and she then began to crawl towards me with a twisted smile on her face. The sight was horrifying.

 _"Come on! Someone! Use Riddikulus on it, or something!"_ I screamed in my head, my mouth not working for some reason.

"You killed me. You are the reason I am dead. You're not a hero. You're a fool. How could I love such a person?" a voice said that was sharper than a knife to my ears. I was almost ready to snap. But then I started to tremble with sadness and anger. I grit my teeth while trying to hold back my emotions, to little avail.

"You don't bring love. You don't bring security. You bring suffering wherever you go," she continued, making my about to draw a rocket launcher and blast everything in sight.

But before her body could speak again, there was a cry of 'Riddikulus' and the body was replaced with a trunk. But my eyes will still fixated on that spot.

"Robert?" a voice asked. I looked and saw the whole class looking at me, most of them looking concerned. I couldn't handle the stares and I ran out of the class.

"Dad..." Harry trailed, but I ignored him and kept walking. Instead of going down the hallway, I jumped out of the window and used my grapple gun to get myself to the top of the castle. I sat on a gargoyle and began hitting my head furiously, as if trying to knock the memory loose.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," I said, my voice getting more and more sorrowful as I said it. I gripped my head and pulled my hair until my face was forced onto the gargoyle. I then began to cry and lost myself in my sorrow.

 _"Gwen... Gwen... I'm sorry. I was selfish. I wanted to have something in this world to love, and you paid the price for it,"_ I thought sorrowfully before it turned into a hard resolution. _"I won't be weak ever again. Never. I won't let what happened to you happen to anyone else."_

I stayed on top of the gargoyle for hours. I couldn't bring myself to go back inside, pretending that everything was better. Cause it wasn't.

* * *

A/N: Angsty, isn't it? Yeah, this is not a good year for my character. But you'll find that things will always have to be done the hard way if not done the easy way beforehand.


	6. Chapter 6 - Animal Issues

I didn't say anything when I came down to breakfast the next morning. I was in and out before Harry and the others even saw me. I barely had an appetite, and had to struggle to even swallow a few bites of food.

I could see Harry walk into the Hall out of the corner of my eye, and he looked exhausted. He was probably up all night waiting for me, and I felt a little bad about that. But I couldn't bring myself to go back to the dorm and be questioned. So I slept on a gargoyle on top of the castle. Pathetic? Very.

I kept my eyes on my plate the entire time while only moving around pieces of the food and not eating them. After a while, I pushed my plate away from me and buried my face on the table.

"You alright?" I heard Harry ask me once he got close.

"I feel terrible," I said, keeping my face hidden on the table.

"At least look at me," Harry said. I sat up and looked at him with a miserable expression.

"You look more unhappy than I've ever seen you," Harry said.

"Cause I am unhappy. I don't appreciate a ghost of my past being exposed like that," I said, keeping my voice even.

"Who was that lady?" Harry asked.

"Drop it," I said firmly.

"But..." I slammed my hands on the table hard enough to spill cups and knock silverware over. I stood up while looking at Harry with a hard expression.

"DROP IT. I don't want to talk about it," I growled before storming off. I forced the palms of my against my forehead and tried to get rid of the turmoil I was feeling. I couldn't bring myself to deal with it now, so I had to try and suppress it. Cause it would only get worse if I didn't.

Malfoy had gone back to acting like a fool, but that was to be expected. Then again, I didn't really care too much. I acted more like my old self the next few days. Moody and reserved. Harry had finally seemed to drop the subject about the Boggart, and decided to be a silent supporter.

I had also heard from other students like Parvati that the Divination teacher, Professor Trelawney, that she had been predicting Harry's death for just about every day ever since classes started.

"Man, I'm glad I didn't take that idiotic ass class," Harry said.

"I had a bad feeling about this class for the start. I can see I wasn't wrong. If you weren't dead from the the shit that happened the last two years, then I can't see it happening anytime soon," I told him. Harry smiled at this.

"Better believe it. I'm not going anywhere," he said. I smiled to myself. I was starting to feel a little better about the Boggart situation, which still haunted the back of my mind.

Then the Quidditch season had started, and I was glad for it. Quidditch was a fun little side activity at Hogwarts when we weren't dealing with unnatural shit everyday. Oliver Wood faced all the members of his Quidditch team with a proud smile.

"Well, this is my final year here, and it's also my last chance to help win the Quidditch Cup. So, I'd love to end it off with a good note," he told us.

"Believe us Wood. We're getting that Cup again," I told him, my expression firm. He smiled.

"I know we are. Wanna know why? Cause we've got the best - ruddy - team - in - the - school," Wood said, getting that familiar manic glint back in his eyes. "We've got four superb Chasers." He pointed to me, Alicia Spinner, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell. Alicia probably still wasn't all that happy about being a backup Chaser, but she smiled all the same.

"We've got two unbeatable Beaters."

"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," Fred and George Weasley said together, pretending to blush.

"And we've got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!" Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with a kind of furious pride. "And me," he added as an afterthought.

"Give yourself more credit Wood," I told him.

"He's right. We think you're very good too, Oliver," George said.

"Spanking good Keeper," Fred said.

"The point is," Wood went on, resuming his pacing, "we've won the Quidditch Cup two years in a row, and I plan on going for three as well. So, let's get going!"

We did training sessions three times a week with the weather getting colder and wetter, and the nights getting darker. But our fierce Gryffindor determination would get us through it.

"What's happened?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in two of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for Astronomy. The entire common room was buzzing with excitement, so it had to be good.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," Ron said, pointing at a notice that had appeared on the battered old bulletin board. "End of October. Halloween."

"Excellent," Fred said, who had followed us through the portrait hole. "I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets."

Harry threw himself into a chair beside Hermione, and I took the one beside Ron.

"Think Hogsmeade is as good as they say?" I asked.

"Hell, it better be. I don't want to go there only to be disappointed," Harry said.

"Don't worry, I think we'll all enjoy it," Ron assured me.

Then Crookshanks leapt lightly on Hermione's lap with a dead spider dangling from his mouth.

"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" Ron said, scowling.

"Stop being so squeamish," I told him.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" Hermione said.

Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed insolently on Ron.

"Just keep him over there, that's all," Ron said irritably, turning back to his star chart. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag."

Harry yawned and stretched on the chair he was on, his feet close to the fireplace.

"You already finished your chart?" Ron asked.

"Yup. Glad I did too. I'm tired as hell," Harry said, rubbing his neck.

"I've just finished," Ron said with a proud flourish. Crookshanks was still staring unblinkingly at Ron, flicking the end of his bushy tail. I raised an eyebrow at the animal, who was very fixated on him. Then he pounced, and I quickly reacted to grab him out of the air before he reached Ron.

"OY!" Ron roared, seizing his bag and getting it away from Crookshanks.

"God, this is never gonna get old, is it?" I said as I stroked Crookshanks ears to get him to calm down again.

"You keep that cat away from him!" he said furiously to Hermione.

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione said, her voice shaking. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"

"There's something funny about that animal!" Ron said. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!" I gestured for Harry to follow me and he all too gladly followed me up to the dormitories.

"How much longer do you think they'll be at it?" Harry asked me.

"Not long. There isn't too much to say. But I'm afraid these two animals are going to break what little friendship they have," I told him.

"I don't their friendship is that fragile," Harry said.

"Compared to you? Yes, it really is," I told him.

"Me? Why me?" Harry asked.

"Don't you see? Hermione likes you better than Ron or me. Same goes for Ron. You're the favorite. You may not see it, but I do. Ron feels he can relate to you, and so can Hermione. Me? I'm your guardian and your friend. You are definitely my favorite," I told him.

"I never thought of it like that," Harry said.

"I know you didn't. Eventually, and this day will come, you'll have to pick a side if you're 'truly' their friend," I said with quotations.

"I don't want to pick sides. I just want them to get along," Harry said.

"Can't have it both ways sometimes kid. It's not that easy sometimes," I said, changing into short and a muscle shirt before lying on my bed. "Just make sure to go with what you think is right." I then fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Ron was still in a bad mood with Hermione next day. He barely talked to her all through Herbology, even though him, Harry, and Hermione were working together on the same Puffapod. I was across from them working with two other Hufflepuffs.

"How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as we stripped fat pink pods from the plants and emptied the shining beans into a wooden pail.

"He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking," Ron said angrily, missing the pail and scattering beans over the greenhouse floor.

"Careful, Weasley, careful!" Professor Sprout cried as the beans burst into bloom before our very eyes. Harry looked at me in concern, and I mouthed at him, _"Remember what I told you."_

After I got out of Ancient Runes, I got back to the other three only to notice Hermione and Ron were glaring daggers at each other. Harry had to catch me up about what happened with Lavender when we got back to the common room. But I was more on Ron's side on this one.

"And she says boys are dense. To be honest, when it came to Scabbers nearly getting eaten and Lavender's rabbit dying, she held little regard for either's feelings. I can't really blame Ron this time around," I told him.

"But that was a bit much," Harry said, but I shook my head.

"No. It really wasn't. Because so far, Scabbers has been almost eaten twice since he's been in Hermione's care. Very little regard was shown towards Scabbers in that case. No effort to move him to another room when he was nearby or anything. And she tries to prove that Trelawney was wrong about predicting Lavender's fear while showing little sympathy toward Lavender in her case, am I right?" I questioned.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"Which proves my point. Ron didn't go too far. Ron was right. And you know he was Hermione," I said without bothering to turn around to face her. Harry wheeled around to face her and she was glaring daggers at me, but I know how to give her a look far more intimidating.

"You no right to act like you're in the right when you're in the wrong. You haven't shown much sympathy to others when it comes to their pets. You could definitely give Ron less stress about the situation with Scabbers if you just send Crookshanks back to your dormitory when he's around. Common sense you have and refuse to use. When you learn to develop more sympathy for other people, don't ask for mine," I told her in a hard tone. She managed eye contact with a little while before going back up to the dorm. Harry looked at me with a hesitant look.

"I'll make her learn the hard way that she can't expect to be right all the time. Especially when she's wrong," I told him.

"No amount innocent looking people can change your mind when they're wrong, huh?" Harry asked.

"Nope. I will correct you when you're wrong. No matter who you are. And nine point ninety nine out of times, I will do it mercilessly and viciously without remorse. That's just how I work," I told him.

"I know this well. I figure I should talk to her though," Harry said. I raised an eyebrow.

"You think I'm wrong about this situation?" I asked.

"No, but I can definitely disagree with the way you made your point. I'll explain it to her in a way that isn't as straightforward and harsh as you are," Harry told me.

"Alright. Maybe confirmation from you will help her see better. Go for it," I told him.

"She's probably not going to Hogsmeade," Harry said in a suggesting tone.

"I gotcha. I'll bring ya some sweets back, you sweet toothed motherfucker," I said, beginning to walk out.

"I am your son. In a way," Harry called. I smiled with pride before walking out.

* * *

A/N: Not quite as long as I would've liked it, but it's good enough in my book.


	7. Chapter 7 - Halloween Invader

"Here you go, ya sweet addict," I said, dropping a 2 pound bag of sweets into Harry's lap.

"I can quit whenever I want to dammit," Harry said in a playful voice that was the very stereotype of someone who refused to admit they had a problem. I smirked.

"Yeah. Whatever. So how did the conversation with Hermione go?" I asked him.

"Surprisingly well. I reinforced your statement about the thing with the pets, and she accepted it. Though I can say she was far from happy when we first started the conversation," Harry said.

"I figured that much. But the point was for her to learn. Not be happy," I said, before checking the time on my phone. "The feast is starting in a little bit. We oughta get moving. Save your sweets."

"Since when are you all about health?" Harry asked me.

"I'm not. They just taste better after you've eaten real food. Trust me on that," I told him. He shrugged and followed me down the feast.

Even after eating a large supply of Honeydukes sweets myself, I still had plenty of room to eat several helpings of food. The Halloween feast this year was just as good as the ones the years prior, and I loved that kind of consistency.

"Ah. Now to get to my Honeydukes sweets," Harry said after the feast. I rolled my eyes as Ron commented.

"You're gonna love them. I'd recommend starting with the Chocoballs. They're the best," he suggested.

"Alright. Chocoballs it is," Harry said. But when we neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, we noticed that the staircase was jammed with students.

"You have got to be kidding me," I said.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" Ron asked curiously.

"Follow behind me," I said as I started pushing my way to the front.

"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password - excuse me, I'm Head Boy -" I rolled my eyes. As if anyone really cared if you were Head Boy when you said it just about every day. But we were ahead of Percy, and when we got the front, we were shocked by what we saw.

The Fat Lady was gone out of her portrait, and it didn't take a genius to see why. Great, big chunks were torn out of her portrait. So much that they littered the floor. I could hear Percy say something about Dumbledore in a sharp tone behind me, but I cut on AS vision. Hopefully, no students touched any of the stuff I can use for evidence to trail back to Black.

To say the least, the floor was littered with footprints. To the point where I couldn't distinguish any of Black's footprints. That was to be expected. But there might be evidence on other areas. I decided to scan the tear for anything out of the ordinary. Something definitely caught my eye.

 _"These tears take the shape of claw marks. No way this was caused by magic. Is Black an Animagus?"_ I thought to myself.

I scanned around the area for any hairs that he might have left behind to identify what kind of animal he could transform into. No such luck.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as Dumbledore arrived on the scene.

"We need to find her," Dumbledore said. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice.

I bristled with irritation before turning around to face Peeves the Poltergeist. I couldn't stand this bastard, but undoubtedly, he knew something about the Fat Lady disappearing. Likely, he witnessed it happen.

"What do you mean Peeves?" Dumbledore said calmly, causing Peeves' grin to fade a little. But he adopted an oily voice that made me want to shoot the bastard.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing." he added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore said quietly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," Peeves said with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

I frowned a little. I know for a fact that these tears were caused by an animal. Yet Peeves said he saw Black. Either Black really is an Animagus, or Peeves is lying. In this case, I don't think Peeves was lying. I have a suspicion that he is an Animagus. I went up to Dumbledore and whispered in his ear.

"Black might be an Animagus. If you see anything resembling a dog or wolf, you might want to catch it," I told him. He nodded with a solemn look on his face. He then addressed the entire crowd.

"Everyone, you will go to the Great Hall. Move with haste please," Dumbledore said in an urgent tone. Percy immediately went to try and take charge, but the students had already taken the initiative and quickly started heading toward the Hall. I turned to Dumbledore.

"If Black's still in the castle, he needs to be contained. And quickly. I will not have that madman running loose from even light years away from my ward," I told him firmly. He nodded.

"I understand you concern. This will be taken care of swiftly. Let's hope he has not already gotten out of the castle," Dumbledore said, immediately striding off. I slid down the arm rests of the stairs to get ahead of the group before drawing an electric assault rifle. I held it with both hands close to my chest while marching in a military style. I didn't plan on Black laying a hand on anyone in this group.

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."

Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..."

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.

The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened.

"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" Percy shouted. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

"C'mon," Ron said to Harry and Hermione; they seized three sleeping bags and dragged them into a corner. I then walked over to the three.

"Do you think Black's still in the castle?" Hermione whispered anxiously.

"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be," Ron said.

"So do I. He's not gonna give up on this," I said.

"It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know," Hermione said as they climbed fully dressed into their sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows to talk. "The one night we weren't in the tower..."

"I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run," Ron said. "Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here." Hermione shuddered.

All around them, people were asking one another the same question: "How did he get in?"

"Maybe he knows how to Apparate," a Ravenclaw said a few feet away, "Just appear out of thin air, you know."

"Disguised himself, probably," a Hufflepuff fifth year said.

"He could've flown in," Dean Thomas suggested.

"Honestly, am I the only person who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts, A History?" Hermione said crossly to Harry and Ron. I was about to speak up when Hermione quickly turned to me and said, "Besides you."

"Probably," Ron said. "Why?"

"Because the castle's protected by more than walls, you know," Hermione said. "There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. You can't just Apparate in here. And I'd like to see the disguise that could fool those Dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they'll have them covered..."

"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"

"I'm going to search these grounds with the teachers. I'll be back after I'm done looking," I said.

"Be careful," Harry told me. I nodded before striding off.

The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from the silvery ghosts, who were drifting about talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars. But people were still whispering like crazy.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked me.

"To help search the grounds," I said.

"You should be staying here," Percy said, but I shook my head.

"I want to do a sweep of the grounds. Every possible chance that Black has to hide is one too many. My jet can sweep the forest efficiently," I explained to him.

"But the Headmaster said..."

"Right now, the Headmaster be damned. If you have children to take care of, you would understand. Especially when that child happens to be targeted specifically by this killer. I'm going," I told him firmly, almost angrily. He held out his hand toward the Hall entrance. I nodded and quickly strode out of it. A number of Professors saw me striding out of the Hall, but they didn't pay it any mind.

"Well, this puts my Halloween costume on hold," I said, shaking my head.

After about a half hour of me patrolling around the castle grounds while refusing to stay in the Hall, there was no trace of Black. He knew how to get away fast, and that pissed me off.

I came back to the Hall and walked directly to Dumbledore.

"Nothing," I said frustratingly.

"Black's always been a very ingenious wizard. It isn't your fault," Dumbledore assured me. Didn't make me feel any better that we were minus one psychopath.

"Professor Dumbledore is right. There's not much anyone could do," Percy said, coming up to us. "Everything's under control sir."

"Good. There's no point in moving them back now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow," Dumbledore said.

"What happened to the Fat Lady? I trust you can't kill a painting?" I said.

"We found her hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr Filch restore her," Dumbledore explained. Then I looked over to see Snape looking walking towards us.

"Headmaster? The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons. Nothing there either," Snape said before turning to me. "I trust your sweep of the grounds was unsuccessful."

"Unfortunately. I looked on the grounds myself while my jet swept the forest for any human presence. I got nothing out of the ordinary," I explained.

"What about the Astronomy Tower?" Dumbledore asked. "Professor Trewlaney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched," Snape said, sounding even more disappointed than I was somehow.

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger," Dumbledore said.

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" Snape asked.

"Many, Severus. Each of them as unlikely as the next," Dumbledore said, making Snape's face get a little angry.

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before - ah - the start of term?" Snape said, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block me and Percy out of the conversation. But I had crazy excellent hearing. Power of science.

"I do, Severus," Dumbledore said, and there was something like warning in his voice.

"It seems - almost impossible - that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed -"

"Wait, you think he had help?" I asked Snape.

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," Dumbledore said, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply.

I frowned. Snape seems to think that someone he appointed would help Black in this castle. The only one that Snape could possibly suspect is Lupin, and I took him as a kind soul when I first met him. And I don't get these things wrong often.

"I must go down to the Dementors," Dumbledore said. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore left the hall, walking quickly and quietly. Snape stood for a moment, watching the headmaster with an expression of deep resentment on his face before turning to me.

"You should get yourself some sleep," Snape said.

"I am not getting any sleep while that murderer is out there. If he's fool enough to come here, I will slice his throat open. And you know I mean that," I said in a heated tone. Snape simply nodded before walking out of the Hall. Percy was looking at me strangely and I gave him a two handed salute.

"Keep your eyes open," I told Percy before walking off. I kneeled by Harry's body before speaking.

"I know you're awake," I said. Harry then spoke quietly.

"Who do you figure Professor Snape suspects?" he asked.

"Only one that would make any sense is Lupin, who is the newest addition to the group," I told him. "We'll talk about this in the morning. Get some sleep."

I stood in a meditating position next to Harry to keep my ears open for anything unordinary. I then looked back over to Harry and kissed his forehead. My mouth then went into a thin.

"As God as my witness, I will not let anyone hurt you. You are my first son. My pride and joy. If anyone tries to hurt you, I will make them suffer," I said while over him. I then moved back into my meditating position and closed my eyes.

* * *

A/N: This was a pretty simple chapter, but I felt like that was the best time to end it. I'm also making sure to put plenty of fatherly love at the right moments. Cause I find that to be a nice feature in this story. Hope you all enjoyed.


	8. Chapter 8 - A Bad Game

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub.

To make matters worse, we got Sir Cadogon as our replacement for the Fat Lady. For a person with a eidetic memory, remembering passwords was child's play. But for others, having it changed two to six times a day is annoying. Apparently, he was the only one brave enough to volunteer for this job.

"This is getting annoying," Harry said.

"Percy or Sir Cadogon?" I asked.

"Both really. Percy's been following me around like a pompous guard dog, and McGonagall also tried to tell that Black was after me cause she thought I didn't know," Harry said.

"Good on her," I said as a pissed off Wood stormed in. "What's with you?"

"We're not playing Slytherin!" he told us, looking very angry. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"Why?" all of us asked at the same time.

"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker is still under 'emotional stress' from almost being slaughtered by a hippogriff," Wood said, grinding his teeth furiously. "But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances..."

"Honestly, I'm not surprised. But don't worry. We'll just kick the fuck out of Hufflepuff," I told Wood.

I know, but we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory -"

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled. I raised an eyebrow as I turned to face the three and I gave them a smirk.

"You must be part of his fan club," I said.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" Angelina said.

"Strong and silent," Katie said, and they started to giggle again. I was somewhat offended.

"What the hell am I? Chopped liver?" I asked, throwing my hands up while leaning back in my chair to the point where it was on its back legs.

"We never said you weren't, now did we?" Katie said with a smirk. I smirked. Touché.

"Fair enough," I said. I couldn't explain it, but I always had a dynamic relationship with the girls on this team.

Fred and George jokingly elbowed me a while raising their eyebrows in a suggestive way. I smirked and elbowed them back. The girls rolled their eyes. Hey, no matter what, guys will be guys.

"Anyways, I don't know what you're worried about, Oliver. Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?" Fred reminded them.

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!" I quickly stood up with my hand held out.

"Calm your ass Wood. We've got this. Besides, you'd make us train in a fucking blizzard or thunderstorm. This won't be that much different," I said with a smirk. The whole team laughed and Wood even smiled.

"Yeah, we got this," Wood said.

"That's the spirit," I told him.

* * *

I walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts only to see that it wasn't Lupin in front of the class. It was Severus. I raised an eyebrow at his presence.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" I asked him.

"None of your concern right now, Mr. Morgan. Take a seat," Snape told me.

I did as I was told and took a seat at the desk where me and Harry normally sit, who was currently missing. I didn't get why. Normally he's pretty punctual.

The bell wrong, and I bit my bottom lip in worry. I was starting to become paranoid that Black somehow got to him. Snape had started talking, but I wasn't listening cause my mind was on where Harry was.

But about ten minutes later, Harry rushed in the classroom. I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin. I-" Harry started before noticing it was Snape at the front of the class. "Where's Professor Lupin?"

"He says he is feeling to ill to teach today. Now sit down before I change my mind about punishing you for arriving late," Snape said.

"Yes sir," Harry said, taking the seat next to me.

"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you've covered so far -"

"Please sir. We've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows," Hermione quickly said. "And we're just about to start -"

"Quiet," Snape said in a voice laced with deadly calm. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."

"He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," Dean Thomas said boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. Snape looked more menacing than ever.

"You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you - I ,Would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss -" Snape started before flicking the book on my table almost to the back of the book.

"...werewolves," Snape finished.

"But sir," Hermione said, unable to restrain herself even with the gestures I was giving her. "We're not supposed to do werewolves yet. We're due to start hinkypunks-"

"Miss Granger," Snape said in the same deadly calm voice. "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around again. 'All of you! Now!"

With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books. I furrowed my brows. Just what did Snape have in mind for this lesson, taking us all the way to werewolves?

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" Snape asked.

Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, whose hand, as it so often did, had shot straight into the air.

"Anyone?" Snape said, ignoring Hermione's hand. Then I saw Harry raise his hand at almost the exact same time I raised mine. Snape turned and faced us with a twisted smile on his face.

"Well, well, looks like a few people bothered to open their textbooks before they came into this classroom," he said, addressing the class. Harry couldn't help but hide a smile and I had to hold my smirk back as well.

"We told you. We haven't gotten as far as werewolves. We're still on hinkypunks," Parvati said.

"There's is a such thing as being prepared ahead of time Ms. Patil," Snape said coolly. "I see most of you do not know much about that." The class had no answer for that. Snape nodded before turning to Harry.

"Mr. Potter, how do you distinguish a werewolf from a wolf?" Snape asked.

"The snout, the tail, (I don't know the third one, so I'm making one up), and the shape of the paws," Harry said.

"Well, well. Certainly a much better improvement than the first time you entered my class. I'm impressed Potter," Snape said, shocking the class. I'm sure they would never hear a time that they heard Snape give a Gryffindor praise.

"Now, I want you all to take notes on werewolves in the book. Even the ones who actually know what they're talking about. _Silently,"_ Snape emphasized.

The rest of the class passed by in silence while Snape examined the work had Lupin had given us.

"Poorly explained... Incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia," Snape said as he was looking through the papers. "Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I would've given it three..."

The bell rang, and Snape held us back.

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Dismissed," Snape said. The whole class walked out grumbling.

"Man, I still don't see how either of you can stand that ponce," Ron said.

"Watch it Ron," I warned him.

"We know you and Harry get along with him, but you're about the only people who do. The rest of us don't like him," Ron said.

"That's cause all of you have the thick skin of a slug. Snape is a man of intellect. You don't have it, you've got no business acting privileged. I will admit one thing. He had some ulterior motive for starting us at werewolves," I said frowning.

"Yeah. He hates us. He knew we didn't cover werewolves yet," Ron said.

"It's not that, no matter how much you hate him. I'll think about it later on," I said, heading to my next class.

* * *

I began to write the essay based on all of the stuff I knew about werewolves, which was a lot when you could memorize all the stuff that a book has to offer.

Then I frowned before grabbing my lunar chart. Harry, who was working on his essay as well, looked at me curiously.

"We didn't have any work in Astronomy," he said.

"I know. I'm just checking something," I said, looking over the chart. The full moon was just yesterday. Around the exact same time Lupin fell ill. My frown curved even more as I kept thinking about it.

"What's on your mind?" Harry asked me.

"I think Professor Lupin's a werewolf," I said, still frowning at the chart. "He's showing all the signs for it to be coincidental. Yesterday was the full moon..."

"And he happens to be ill. Maybe that's why Snape didn't tell us what was wrong with him. Cause it's supposed to be a secret," Harry said.

"Yet this was the exact reason he assigned us an assignment on werewolves. So we would know. But if he knows, either he recently found out or the entire staff knows," I said.

"Would Dumbledore really hire a werewolf to teach us?" Harry asked.

"Lupin is extremely kind and very capable of teaching us all. But not all people would understand that if they knew he was a werewolf. I can see why the staff kept it hidden. But what I want to know is what are they doing to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone?" I asked, deep in thought.

"Well, it's likely Lupin is coming back. We can ask him then," Harry said. "But just what can keep a werewolf from hurting someone? I mean, they are pretty strong."

"Unbreakable restraints or a Wolfsbane potion," I said. "The Wolfsbane potion is a more likely candidate considering Snape is an accomplished potion maker himself."

"Just what does the potion do exactly?" Harry asked.

"Allows the werewolf to keep their normal mind when they're turning. That way Lupin won't hurt anyone else. And above all, transforming into a werewolf is extremely painful for the host. Nights after turning into a werewolf aren't easy," I said.

"So we're waiting for Lupin to get back?" Harry asked.

"Yup. It'll be better to take this to him first. We'll tell Hermione and Ron about it later," I said. "Right now, we have essays to finish."

"It's not even that late. We've only got out of class about ten minutes ago," Harry said.

"I know. But I don't know how they'll react, and I'd prefer to get Professor Lupin's take on it before I go jumping on bandwagons," I said. Harry nodded and we spent the rest of the day in silence.

* * *

I was in the Great Hall in my Quidditch robes, and I saw how badly it was raining when if first woke up. Hell, I felt wet and clammy just thinking about it.

"It's going to be a tough one," Wood said, seemingly unable to eat anything.

"Stop worrying Oliver," Alicia said soothingly. "We don't mind a bit of rain."

"Have you seen the weather report today dear? I'd say it is a trite bit more than a bit of rain," I said in a tone mimicking one of an extremely polite husband, making most of the team snicker. Alicia smiled before shaking her head at my tone.

"But seriously," I said, my tone going back to normal. "it's raining cats and dogs out there. Probably a few horses and cows as well."

"It'll be fine," Alicia told me.

"You won't be saying that when the winds blow you all the way to the United States," Harry said idly, taking a bite of porridge.

After we finished breakfast, we stood up and starting heading toward the stadium. I saw that Harry's glasses were splattered with rain. I shook my head at the sight.

"Ugh. Why have I not done this sooner?" I asked, taking out two contacts. "Hold still son." Harry did as he was told as I took off his glasses.

I held his head still as I put the contacts into his eyes and he blinked rapidly several times before looking around.

"I can see!" Harry exclaimed.

"To be honest, I don't know why I haven't done that in the first place. Maybe I'm just used to you having glasses," I said.

"So he can see without his glasses?" Wood asked me.

"Yup. You don't even have to remove them. They meld with your retina, so they're practically not there. You should be able to see a lot better in this weather than with these old things on," I said, waving Harry's glasses. "Crush em or keep em. The choice is yours."

"Eh, you can crush em. Don't really care about them anymore," Harry said. I dropped them on the ground and stomped them before we continued to our positions.

"I suppose you couldn't do anything about this cold?" Harry asked.

"Well, I could, but we're only allowed to wear our Quidditch robes. That's all," I said.

"Damn. I'm going to be clammy as all living hell once this game is over with," Harry said.

"Ah, you'll be fine," I said, as we made it to the front of the field. Madam Hooch mouthed at us to mount our brooms, and you could barely hear the whistle over the roar of the wind.

I kicked off from the ground and the rain started hitting my face even more rapidly than before along with the freezing cold winds. But I managed to grab the Quaffle before the Hufflepuff Chaser did and sped off toward the goal posts. Night vision would easily make this a cake walk, but better than everyone else anyway. Plus that would just be unfair, and I was all about a fair chance.

The game passed by like it was nothing more than a distant memory. I didn't feel the usual euphoria I get when I played Quidditch. This weather was the likely culprit of that. Today, I just played to get it over with. It didn't help that the speed of my Nimbus made this wind more likely to blow me off course.

Keeping count, I saw that the score was 110 - 30 with us leading. It would've been a better lead if the weather wasn't this bad. When me and a Hufflepuff Chaser raced toward the Quaffle, the wind caused us to headbutt each other and Hufflepuff managed to get a foul off that.

 _"Ugh. Damn this fucking weather!"_ I thought furiously.

Then I tensed up even more on my broom as the weather somehow got colder and clammier. How?

Then I could feel a crippling fear in my heart. A familiar scream roared in my head that made me shake it before I ended up looking up. Over one hundred Dementors were flying up above us. Even through the storm, I could hear people screaming in fear from their presence. Fuck these things.

Then my eyes widened and I turned on AS vision to try and find Harry. I used a filter so I could find him amongst the numerous amount of Dementors. It immediately tracked to a presence that I just discovered was... falling!

With fear and outright rage fueling my actions, I sped toward the ground as Harry was falling and caught him about halfway before slowing down as I neared the ground and jumped off. I heard the whistle blow as I touched down on the ground and my eyes darted to the unconscious boy in my arms. I immediately ran toward the hospital wing with all of the speed that I had, which was a lot.

I burst into the hospital wing with a shoulder charge that caused the doors to bang loudly on their respective sides and I had a feeling that if magic wasn't reinforcing the screws, they would've been knocked loose. Madam Pomfrey jumped hard at the noise and she looked over in my direction, ready to yell at whoever it was, but she saw Harry in my arms and immediately gestured over to a bed. I gently laid him down and she quickly started examining him.

"What happened?" she asked me.

"Motherfucking Dementors again..." I growled, my body trembling from anger and the effect of the Dementors. "I need to have a word with a certain Minister of ours." I didn't even wait for her to respond as I quickly ran to find Dumbledore.

He didn't get far from the field cause of the situation at hand and I saw him looking angry. Like, majorly angry. To the point where his face looked like it was radiating heat. But he was burning with purposeful anger. I was burning with vengeful anger.

 _"Give. Me. Fudge!"_ I snarled in an animalistic way. McGonagall had quickly strode up to us.

"Mr. Morgan, calm down," she told me, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Calm down? _Calm down?_ Your son isn't lying in the hospital wing cause of Dementors. You can't tell me to _fucking_ calm down. That's an _imposi-fucking-bility!"_ I snarled at her. "Get me Fudge! If necessary, I will find the bastard myself, and you will _not_ like what I will do to him if I have to find him. _Get. Him. Here."_

McGonagall looked hesitant and even somewhat afraid at what I had in mind, but Dumbledore nodded and McGonagall strode off. Dumbledore gestured for me to follow him as well. My walking was more like fast stomping cause my feet was making a lot of noise as I walked.

"I told Cornelius not to admit these _creatures_ into this school," Dumbledore said angrily.

"I will need a Calming Drought," I said. Dumbledore simply nodded, likely knowing my intent if I didn't get one.

I was led to his office, and he handed my a goblet. I drunk the liquid in the goblet down, but I barely felt any calmer.

"Give me another. That barely helped at all," I said, handing the goblet back towards him. He walked over to a cauldron and filled the goblet up again before handing it back to me. I quickly drained it, and I felt extremely pissed off, but I didn't feel like I had a murderous intent boiling in me.

I handed the goblet to him, and he wordlessly cleaned it with a wave of his wand. I collapsed in a chair and sighed heavily. Seeing Harry in that position again only over a hundred feet in the air was just... I don't even think terrifying was suitable enough for it.

After a considerable amount time of waiting, I saw that the fireplace roared to life with green flames and I saw Fudge stride out of it. The anger that was slowly starting to dim now had come back full fledged.

"Now, what is all the fuss ab-" he got no further than that as I grabbed him by the front of his robes and forced him against the wall.

"Oh, I'll tell you what the fuss about. Your little prison bodyguards nearly killed my son!" I growled at him.

"Your... son?" I don't-"

"He is referring to Harry Potter, Cornelius," Dumbledore supplied helpfully.

"Harry Potter. He-" Fudge started, but I interrupted him with a hard jerk on the wall.

"Do not presume to know the relationship between me and my child Minister!" I said with venom. "Now, remove these loathsome creatures from this school!"

"I can't! This is an executive decision made by the governors! I can't-" I pulled him closer to my face and my teeth were bared in a vicious way. I could see fear in his eyes, and I was glad for it. The blood in my veins felt like white fire.

"If you don't remove him, and he dies or gets Kissed, trust me Minister. I will torture and kill you along with the governors. That isn't a threat. It's a promise. Heaven, Hell, and death won't be able to stop me from wreaking my anger upon you. You will _suffer_ Minister if my child gets put in mortal danger again. When his fate is sealed, yours will be as well," I said, letting him go from off the wall. I punched a hole in the wall right next to his head, and he flinched.

"Go," I snarled. He quickly made a break for the fireplace and I stood there for a good thirty seconds before I strode from Dumbledore's office and toward the hospital wing.

 _"Man, I wish could get away with killing that motherfucker,"_ I thought to myself.


	9. Chapter 9 - Getting Harry Some Help

"I can't believe this shit," I said, rubbing my forehead out of irritation. "

"I can't believe you threatened the Minister of Magic. Above all, you got away with it," Fred said.

"I wouldn't have given a fuck if he was Merlin himself. You put my son in danger with some bullshit, and I'll put you down. The only reason he's not dead is because it's kind of hard to protect your child while in Azkaban or on the run," I said.

"Knowing you, you can probably still do it," Ron said, making Hermione swat him on the arm. I smirked.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not test that idea," I said as I saw Harry's eyes open. I immediately looked over to him and saw him raise up while holding his head.

"Ugh... I feel lightheaded," he said.

"That's cause you fell about twenty feet while unconscious before I caught you. Delayed air sickness or some shit," I said with a small smile.

"You gave us quite a scare there mate," Fred said.

"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"

No one said anything. It didn't take long for Harry to put the pieces together.

"We didn't - lose?"

"Diggory got the Snitch. Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square... even Wood admits it."

"Where is Wood?" Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there.

"Still in the showers," Fred said. "We think he's trying to drown himself."

Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. I grabbed his hands and put them down before looking him directly in the face.

"Listen to me kid. You did not fail. It would be damn near supernatural to fly through a crowd of Dementors and still manage to catch the Snitch. So stop doubting yourself," I told him.

"He's right. You've never missed the Snitch before," Fred said.

"There had to be one time you didn't get it," George said.

"The circumstances were bullshit, and you know it," I said angrily. Fred and George quickly backed up and my anger with their hands raised.

"We know. Harry's a damn good Seeker. This wasn't his fault in the slightest," Fred said. I waved my hands in a dismissive way.

"Sorry, I'm just on edge. It's been a terrible day," I said.

"What about the Minister?" Harry asked me. I tightly closed my eyes and had to walk away to find myself for a moment.

"What's with him?" Harry asked.

"He had a very violent talk with the Minister. He wouldn't or couldn't remove the Dementors from the school. I imagine he wanted to hurt the Minister very dearly for that decision," Hermione explained.

 _"Yeah, no kidding,"_ I thought to myself.

"I've never seen him so pissed off. Not even at Malfoy. Sometimes I wonder if his angry looks can actually scare a dragon away," George said.

"Hmm. Glad to see you think so highly of my anger," I said, continuing to pace. "I swear to God if this happens again..."

"It won't," Hermione assured me.

"I don't believe you. Cause we're not that lucky," I said. Hermione frowned, but didn't say anything else after that.

"Did someone get my Nimbus?" Harry asked. Everyone immediately exchanged looks of worry, and Harry frowned. I stepped up to him.

"It flew into the Whomping Willow," I told him. Harry's face immediately drained of color at this news.

"Did anyone get the pieces?" Harry asked. Ron held up a bag and it revealed the splintered remains of Harry's broomstick. Harry forcefully leaned back in his bed in anger.

"Great. First I nearly fall to my death because of some Dementors. Now I find out the Whomping Willow turned my broom into fucking campfire wood," Harry said in a frustrated voice.

"Don't worry. I'll see if I can send out an order for a new one later. Until then, you can use mine," I told him.

"I can't do that," Harry started, but I shook my head.

"Believe me, I'll be fine. In fact, you need to put me on a slower broom so that it's more fair for the Slytherins," I said with a cocky smirk. The entire Gryffindor team laughed at my joke and it made me feel good to see Harry laugh again. I knew we would have to deal with Harry's problem with the Dementors, but the only way to do that would be to...

I furrowed my eyebrows. It would be difficult, but if anyone could handle it, it was Harry. I needed to see Dumbledore.

"I'll be right back," I said, walking into the room Madam Pomfrey was in.

"Yes, Mr. Morgan?" she asked me.

"Do you know the password to Professor Dumbledore's office?" I asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask? Do you need to talk to the Headmaster?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm thinking about giving Harry a way to fight back against these Dementors," I said.

"You mean..." I nodded. "The Patronus Charm is extremely difficult to pull off. Most adults can't even do it."

"Well, Harry is not average. He figured out wordless magic and Occlumency in his second year. He can do this," I told her. Her eyes widened at this news and I nodded. That was beyond impressive. Normally wordless magic wasn't start until sixth year. Even then, it was difficult to pull off.

"Jelly Slugs is the password. If anyone can teach Harry quickly, it's him if he accepts the task," Madam Pomfrey said. I nodded before walking off. I figured Dumbledore wouldn't refuse. He really wouldn't have an excuse to. Harry needed this.

I walked in front of the gargoyle that was in front of his office and recited the password, causing the gargoyle to move to the side. I walked up the staircase and knocked on Dumbledore's door.

"Enter," I heard him say. I opened his door and Dumbledore looked up from his desk to look at me. He smiled.

"Ah. Mr. Morgan. I don't often get a visit from you, so what is it that you need?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's about Harry," I said.

"Yes. How is he?" Dumbledore asked.

"Fine now. Only thing that's hurt is his pride. And his broom. The Whomping Willow completely demolished it," I told him.

"I heard about that. I can only take so much from these things being here," Dumbledore said, his rare cold tone coming to surface. He seemed to resent the Dementors just as much as I did if not more.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked.

"Depends on if it's out of my abilities or unreasonable," Dumbledore said.

"I want you to teach Harry the Patronus Charm," I told him. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize that the Patronus Charm is extremely difficult to perform? Some adults can't even pull it off. That is coursework beyond the level of OWL," Dumbledore said.

"I know, but I want to give this a shot. Do you know how upsetting it is to watch someone you care about fall before creatures you can't do anything to get rid of?" I asked, my gaze piercing right into his eyes. Dumbledore intertwined his fingers while keeping eye contact.

"I understand somewhat. It's not exactly a pleasant sensation. But honestly answer me this. Do you think Mr. Potter is capable of this?" Dumbledore asked.

"I do," I said instantly. "Not many students have strong Occlumency shields and know how to cast nonverbal spells when in second year." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at my statement.

"Second year? Well, that certainly is impressive," he said, seemingly deep in thought. "Alright. If I am unable to teach young Potter, then I will arrange someone who is capable of teaching him. Perhaps Professor Lupin or Snape."

"That will be more than satisfactory. Thank you Headmaster," I said.

"It is my pleasure to help out. But please ensure young Harry doesn't go wandering off alone. Things are no longer safe and things may not be what they seem," Dumbledore said.

"Don't I know it," I said idly.

"Also, I have been meaning to tell you. The parts of the basilisk you requested have been sold have just been processed and added to your bank account. The venom has been drained from the fangs like you requested, and only the bones have been sold. The skin and the venom are yours to collect. Over ten liters of venom and over a hundred feet of skin. Basilisk parts are incredibly valuable in today's economy since they are so rare, and your profit from the bones equates to about 1,180,000 Galleons, the distributor's fee of 10% already paid. The venom and skin were the most valuable things, but I told them the finder wanted to keep them," Dumbledore explained to me, making me smile wide. This was good news. And that was a lot of money to use.

"This is good to hear. Where is the venom and skin?" I asked.

"It is in your vault. Should you wish to take out any venom or skin at any time, it is yours to collect," Dumbledore told me.

"This pleases me. Thank you for your time," I said, waving at him before exiting his office. That went pretty smooth. I could only hope Harry could get the charm down by the end of the year. Plus I would have a chance to experiment with that basilisk venom and skin. The skin I would likely need a professional's help to form into wearable items, and the venom would be perfect for poisonous injectors or things of the sort. So many ideas and little time while in school. It's not like I could brandish basilisk venom in a school full of kids. Someone could get hurt.

At least school felt remotely normal once Monday came. Harry recovered from his time in the hospital wing only to be met with Malfoy doing Dementor imitations during most of Potions. I had to stop Ron from throwing a crocodile heart at Malfoy, yet I couldn't stop myself from having the almost overwhelming urge to dump my entire potion on Malfoy's smug head. Would've been a waste of good ingredients though.

"How do you even put up with that?" Ron asked me as we walked out of Snape's classroom.

"Thick skin. Though I wanted to dump my entire potion on the bastard's head," I said.

"I wish you did. Could've kept the little ponce in the hospital wing for a while," Ron said. Hermione looked at Ron as if she was about to say something, but then she decided against it. Either cause she didn't want to get involved, or she agreed with Ron.

We then sat down for lunch, and I noticed Malfoy starting his Dementor imitations again. Only Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy showed any remote interest in what he was doing. The other Slytherins just looked half-hearted or completely uninterested. To them, unlike Malfoy, the amusement of it was no longer a thing. Maybe cause he had worn it out or because Harry almost died cause of those things.

"If Snape's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again, I'm skiving off," Ron said as we headed to Lupin's class after lunch. I simply rolled my eyes at Ron's attitude while Hermione peeked in through the classroom door.

"It's okay!" Hermione exclaimed. I looked inside to see that Lupin was back at work, but he did look like he was sick.

His robes hung off him even more loosely than before and there were dark shadows under his eyes, but he still managed a bright smile as the class took their seats. The first thing he got was complaints about Snape.

"It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?"

"We don't know anything about werewolves two rolls of parchment!"

"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Lupin asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes, but he said we were really behind he wouldn't listen -"

"- two rolls of parchment!"

Professor Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face.

"Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

"Oh no," Hermione said, looking very disappointed. "I've already finished it!"

"So did I. That was almost a complete waste of time," I said, stretching in my chair.

But the rest of chatter was squashed by Professor Lupin's lesson on hinkypunks. They were tricky little bastards that lure travelers into bogs when they were already lost.

"You notice the lantern dangling from his hand?" Lupin asked as everyone except me took notes. "Hops ahead, gets people to follow the light, and then-" The hinkypunk made an unpleasant squelching noise against the glass. In no time at all, the bell had rung and we were ready go.

"Wait, Harry. I'd like a word with you about something," Lupin said as we were getting ready to leave out. "You as well Mr. Morgan."

I had a feeling I knew what Lupin was going to talk about, but Harry looked slightly apprehensive. He covered up the hinkypunk's box with a cloth once we got near.

"I heard about the match," Lupin said, turning back to his desk and starting to pile books into his briefcase. "And I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?"

"No. The tree smashed it to bits," Harry said, making Lupin sigh.

"Anyway, your guardian has asked the Headmaster to do something to solve your little predicament with the Dementors," he said, making Harry look at me. I looked back at him with an even stare.

"What, did you expect me _not_ to do something? Well, something more constructive than killing Fudge and the governors who appointed the Dementors," I told him.

"Kinda?" Harry said hesitantly. I simply shook my head before gesturing for Lupin to continue.

"Anyway, the idea he had was to teach you the only weapon that can be used against a Dementor: The Patronus charm," Lupin said.

"I've read about that. They say it's a really advanced one. I've thought about trying to practice it on several occasions, but they say it's really hard to do. Some adults can't even do it," Harry said.

"And you would be right. It's extremely difficult to pull off. Requires a lot of magical power and focus to pull off. It's even more difficult to do when a Dementor catches you by surprise. And the more there are, the harder it is to do," Lupin explained.

"I don't care what it takes. I'm going learn this charm," Harry said in a determined voice. Lupin smiled.

"You have your mother's fire," he said. Harry looked at Professor Lupin with a surprised look.

"You knew my mother?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. I knew her," Lupin said, before getting back to the task at hand. "But we will need a way to do it. I don't trust keeping a Dementor locked up inside the castle."

"I know of a way that we can do it," Harry said. I raised an eyebrow at him and Lupin gave Harry a curious look.

"Please explain," Lupin said.

"Well, I instead of Voldemort, the boggart would change into a Dementor every time is sees me. It would be easier to control, and I would essentially get the same effect as a real one," Harry said. Lupin looked at Harry with an impressed eyebrow.

"Very wise. The thing you fear the most is fear itself," Harry said.

"Very," I said. It's not often fear is transferred from one thing to another after one event.

"Alright, I will see if I can find a Dementor. We will start your lessons as soon as possible," Lupin said.

"Thank you," Harry said.

"Thank your guardian. He's the one who set things up," Lupin said. Harry immediately wrapped me in a hug, and I wrapped my arms around his back in a warm embrace.

"No need to thank me kid. After all, it is my job," I said. Me and Harry bid Lupin farewell before walking out. Harry looked a lot happier than before after we talked with Lupin about fighting the Dementors.

Then Hogsmeade was coming up on the upcoming weekend, and it wouldn't be a bad place to do Christmas shopping. But... I had something different in mind for Harry.

I grabbed a piece of paper and summoned a pen before beginning to write out the letter.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

Sorry to bother you, but I find that I need your assistance once again. I cannot fill out a broomstick order form, as I do not have one. So would you do me a favor and order a Firebolt? You can guess who it's for. Here's my signature if you need it. Thank you for your time.

Robert Morgan

I finished the letter with a flourish before I wrote my signature on a separate piece of paper for validation and put them all together in an envelope. I then headed for the Owlery to give it to an owl. I wouldn't bother going to his office to deliver it.

I smiled. I knew a lot of people were going to be jealous when they saw Harry with a Firebolt. Actually, I had an even better idea. I removed the letter and changed the order from one Firebolt to eight. Why? Well, cause I had a bunch of reasons. Namely I was going to give them out to my entire Quidditch team and Ron. If at least one of them passes out, then my job will have been completed. I also asked Dumbledore to tell me when they arrived so I could set things up when everyone came back. I'm so glad that swimming in Muggle money makes me swimming in wizard money too. I'm sure the person who owns the broomstick shop is gonna faint when he sees the number of Firebolts that I ordered. Especially when I have the money to buy all of them.

I had a pleased smile on my face as I tied the letter to the owl, who promptly flew off. I don't think anyone's ever gotten a gift that expensive from an eighteen year old. Their reactions were going to be glorious. Especially when we use them against Slytherin. Oh, that was going to be priceless. Every bit of that day would be priceless. I couldn't wait.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I've decided to give the entire team Firebolts. Why? Cause I feel like making them all OP as all living fuck in Quidditch. I'm still going to be chilling on my Nimbus. For now... Hope you enjoyed.


	10. Chapter 10 - Painful Truth

"Well, it's official. That is a badass map if I do say so myself," I said as Harry showed me the Marauder's Map he got from Fred and George right before we went to Hogsmeade.

"How come Fred and George never gave it to me!" Ron said, sounding outraged. "I'm their brother!"

"But Harry isn't going to keep it!" Hermione said, as though the idea were ludicrous. "He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?" As if we were one, the three of us looked at her like she was crazy.

"No, I'm not!" Harry said. "I'd be a fool to give up something this useful."

"Are you mad?" Ron questioned.

"I find myself agreeing with Ron an unusual amount this year. The world is truly ending," I said with a straight face before it turned into a laugh when Ron swatted me on my arm.

"But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one of those passages on the map to get in the castle! The teachers have got to know!"

"I really don't understand your logic here. I mean, Black doesn't have access to the map, so he'd have to know when where the passage was while he was at Hogwarts while the map is on us. That's number one. Number two, we have a map that tracks the location of everyone in it. If Sirius gets anywhere near here, we'll be able to spot him instantly and I can apprehend him while you all refer to the teachers. Problem solved," I explained, before Ron cleared his throat significantly.

He then pointed to a notice pinned up on the door of the sweetshop. It informed all the shoppers that Dementors would patrol the streets at night and warned them to do their shopping during daylight. That made Black's chances a lot harder as well.

"See?" Ron said quietly. "I'd like to see Black break in Honeydukes with Dementors swarming all over the village. And not to mention the Honeydukes villagers. They'd know if something was up. They live all over the shop!"

"Yes, but but-" Hermione stammered, seemingly trying to find another problem.

"Do yourself and all of us a favor Hermione, and stuff it," I said bluntly before biting into a licorice wand. "You need to learn some Christmas spirit, gurl." Hermione frowned at my words, but Harry put an arm around Hermione's shoulder while smiling wide.

"Are you going to report me?" he asked her.

"Of course not. But for heaven's sake Harry..." Hermione trailed before I stuffed a Chocolate Frog in her mouth in the blink of an eye. Her eyes widened before she started chewing on it. I shook my head.

"Honestly, I'm not the only one who needs Calming Draughts on the daily," I said.

"Seen the Fizzing Whizbees, Harry?" Ron said, leading him over to the barrel. I turned to Hermione and put an arm around her shoulder.

"You're going to have to realize this. We don't play by the rules and do every little responsible thing like you're used to. Thinking like that doesn't give you an edge. Consistently toeing the line and occasionally jumping over it does. Trust me, you'll learn it eventually," I told her.

"I'm afraid what will happen if I do learn to think like that," Hermione said.

"Let's just say you'll be a lot smarter if you know how to be street smart and book smart. Why do you think I'm successful? Cause I know what it takes," I told her. "Trust me, you'll learn. Whether you learn the easy way or the hard way is up to you." And there was no more to be said after that.

We wandered Hogsmeade for a bit more before deciding to go for a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. It was so liberating having thermal clothing. I can always walk around and never be cold.

"That's Madam Rosmerta," Ron said, his face going slightly red. "I'll get the drinks, shall I?" I held out my hand to sit him back down.

"No you will not. You might want to go for a woman more in your price range. And maturity," I said with a teasing smile before walking up to the counter. I summoned a Galleon and began flipping it as I walked up to the front.

"Rosmerta!" I exclaimed. She turned around to face me and I flipped the coin in her direction. She caught it using both hands and raised an eyebrow. "Four butterbeers. Keep the change."

"Coming up honey," she said as she waved her wand. Four tankards immediately began filling themselves from the buckets, and were quickly laid out on the table.

"There you go son," she said. I raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Don't let the smooth taste fool ya beautiful. I can make you call me daddy," I said with a flirty wink. I grabbed the butterbeer off the table, and saw that, with some pride, that I had seen her turn slightly red. I then walked back over to my table with a satisfied smile on my face.

"Merry Christmas to all!" I exclaimed, handing each butterbeer to everyone at the table. Harry grabbed his and took a sip before leaning back in his chair and fixing me with a raised eyebrow.

"What did you do?" he asked me. Ron and Hermione immediately looked at me at Harry's words.

"Why did I have to do something?" I asked, taking a sip of my butterbeer.

"I saw that satisfied look on your face. What did you do to the poor bartender?" Harry asked. I knew he was going to do like I did. Not stop until he got an answer. So I obliged him.

"I just talked dirty to her a little. Nothing too extreme. After all, nothing could be more dramatic and embarrassing than pledging my 'undying love' to her loudly in the entire bar. Believe me, I would actually do that just for the laughs," I said with a satisfied smile as I drank.

"And I have no doubt of that. But do you really like her?" Ron asked.

"She's goddamn gorgeous. But I have no interest in her romantically, so you can rest your precious little head. I won't ruin your fantasies," I said with a smirk. Harry and Hermione laughed while Ron turned a deep red.

The door of the Three Broomsticks opened, and we noticed that a number of teachers had walked in with Fudge. I gripped my tankard until my hand turned white at the sight of the loathsome man. Harry put a calming hand on my shoulder, and I eased up slightly, but not much. I still half wanted the man's head on a pike.

"Calm yourself," Hermione told me, using my signature phrase for angry people. I smiled slightly and took a deep breath, managing to calm myself. But I still eyed the Minister with distaste as he walked. But I was curious as to why he was here.

Madam Rosmerta walked over to their table with a number of drinks floating by her wand.

"A small gillywater -"

"Mine," Professor McGonagall said.

"Four pints of mulled mead -"

"Ta, Rosmerta," Hagrid said.

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella -"

"Mmm!" Professor Flitwick said, smacking his lips.

"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."

"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," Fudge said. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us..."

"Well, thank you very much, Minister."

She walked away from the group. I leaned back in my chair while keeping my eyes on the butterbeer in my hand that I was idly drinking, but my ears were perked up towards their table. Let's see if bar talk would give us some new information that teacher's refused to tell students.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta said once she walked back to their table with a butterbeer. I could see him twist in his chair as if he was checking for eavesdroppers, but my body was low in the seat and my face hidden in my butterbeer with the others at my table following my example.

"What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?" Fudge said in a quiet voice. But I could easily hear him.

"I did hear a rumor," Madam Rosmerta admitted.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" Professor McGonagall said exasperatedly. After what happened first year with Fluffy, was she really surprised? I knew for a fact Snape told the whole staff.

"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" Rosmerta whispered.

"I'm sure of it," Fudge said shortly.

"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice?" Rosmerta said with a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away... It's very bad for business, Minister."

"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," Fudge said uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution... unfortunate, but there are more... I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore - he won't let them inside the castle grounds." I was tempted to scream out, 'Damn good reason, too!', but I squashed the urge.

"I should think not," Professor McGonagall said sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?" I smiled. McGonagall said it all for me.

"Hear, hear!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground.

"All the same..." Fudge said demurely. "They are here to protect you all from something much worse... We all know what Black's capable of..."

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," Madam Rosmerta said thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge said gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known." Now this I raised my ears up at. So did Harry, Hermione, and Ron. It wasn't wise to have such a conversation in a bar out of all things, but I wasn't not currently complaining. We needed to get our answers one way or the other.

"The worst?" Rosmerta said, her voice alive with curiosity, "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do," Fudge said.

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?" Rosmerta asked.

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," Professor McGonagall murmured. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," Rosmerta said with a small laugh, which surprised me. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here - ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk and Ron kicked him. My eyes were wide at that statement, and Hermione looked shocked.

"Precisely," Professor McGonagall said. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course - exceptionally bright, in fact - but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers -"

"I dunno," Hagrid said. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run for their money." He was right about that, but I didn't know what they were necessarily infamous for in this school.

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" Professor Flitwick chimed in. "Inseparable!"

"Of course they were," Fudge said. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him." I looked over to Harry, who had gone rigid and his face alight with horror.

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Rosmerta whispered.

"Worse even than that, m'dear..." Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" Rosmerta said, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "Involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find - unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" Rosmerta whispered. A crippling fact immediately hit me. I knew exactly what they were going to say after this.

"Naturally," Professor McGonagall said. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself... and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" Rosmerta said.

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," Professor McGonagall said darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did," Fudge said heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed -"

"Black betrayed them?" Rosmerta breathed. I could see the grip on Harry's tankard grow extremely tight. I could see the anger that had not yet fully formed on his face, and he had a face that looked ready for murder.

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role. He was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it -"

"Filthy, stinking turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet.

"Shh!" Professor McGonagall said.

"I met him!" Hagrid growled. "I must have been the last to see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily and James' house after they was killed! Just got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, and his parents dead... and Sirius Black turns up, on that flying motorbike he used to ride. Never occurred to me what he was doing there. I didn't know he'd been Lily and James' Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd just heard the news of You-Know-Who's attack and come to see what he could do. White and shaking, he was. And you know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERING TRAITOR!" Hagrid roared.

"Hagrid, please!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed quietly. "Keep your voice down!"

"How was I to know he wasn't upset about Lily and James? It was You-Know-Who he cared about! And then he says, 'Give Harry to me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him -' Ha! But I had me orders from Dumbledore, and I told Black no. Dumbledore said Harry was to go to his aunt and uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me to take his motorbike to get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says."

"I should've known there was something fishy going on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he giving it to me for? Why wouldn't he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy to trace. Dumbledore knew he'd been the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was going to have to run for it that night. Knew it was a matter of hours before the Ministry was after him."

"But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd pitched him off the bike halfway out to sea. His best friend's son! But when a wizard goes over to the Dark Side, there's nothing and no one that matters to em anymore..."

A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then Rosmerta said with some satisfaction, "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!"

"Alas, if only we had," Fudge said bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew - another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself."

"Pettigrew... that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" Rosmerta said.

"Hero-worshipped Black and Potter," Professor McGonagall said. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather hard with him. You can imagine how I - how I regret that now..." She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.

"There, now, Minerva," Fudge said kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses - Muggles, of course, we wiped their, memories later - told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens..."

Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy ... foolish boy... he was always hopeless at dueling... should have left it to the Ministry..."

"I tell you, if I'd got to Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't have messed around with wands - I'd have ripped him limb - from - limb," Hagrid growled.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," Fudge said sharply. "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I - I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him... a heap of bloodstained robes and a few - a few fragments -"

Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound of five noses being blown.

"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," Fudge said thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban ever since." Rosmerta let out a long sigh.

"Is it true he's mad, Minister?" she asked.

"I wish I could say that he was," Fudge said slowly. "I certainly believe his master's defeat unhinged him for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate man - cruel... pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them... but I was shocked at how... normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored - asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please. Said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on him - and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day and night."

"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" Rosmerta said. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"

I daresay that is his - er - eventual plan," Fudge said evasively. "But we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing... but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again..."

There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass.

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, he'd better head back up to the castle," Professor McGonagall said.

One by one, the pairs of feet in front of us rose and walked out of the door of the Three Broomsticks. I turned to Harry and saw that he looked to be in a daze. As if the information he had just heard was slowly starting to sink in. My expression immediately turned into a concerned one. I reached my hand out towards him, but he slammed his butterbeer down so hard that that the tankard cracked before storming out of the bar. I immediately stood and followed him.

I quickly caught up to his running speed and stayed next to him while staying silent. I didn't say anything. Truly, I didn't need to say anything. Everything had been laid out in front of him. And there was nothing more for him to think about.

"Do you know what it's like to think about that?" Harry suddenly said.

"To just find out someone you cared about was murdered by someone relatively close to you? No I don't. And I can't say I ever will. It's not like I was really around my family long enough for someone to care about kidnapping them," I said dully.

"He was their friend... how do you betray your friends? They were friends since Hogwarts. And he threw that all away for... Voldemort?" Harry questioned.

"Some people change since they were kids. He probably cared about his own life more than his friends. He probably was a big supporter of the dark. Of wizard supremacy. Either way, he was a cowardly piece of shit," I said.

"I want to watch him suffer," Harry said.

"You don't mean that. Not yet you do," I said, immediately calling his bluff. There was anger, but it wasn't full fledged hate. "The anger hasn't truly settled in yet. When you feel as if you can truly watch them suffer, you'll know. Something like that has to fester until the inside of you has rotted. I've lived in anger and misery for a long time. I know what I'm talking about."

"Just how do you do that? You hate, but it doesn't throw you off. You can still think and pay attention to the stuff going on around you," Harry said.

"Because when you live in hate like I do, you simply control it rather than it controlling you. I let it fuel me. There's nothing more dangerous than a man who knows how to use their anger and still think straight. I'm like a Sith who doesn't use the Force, if you want it in geek terms," I said.

"What about that drive to kill?" Harry asked me.

"That all depends on how you see things and your will on the situation. For a man to kill, you have to feel as if the target is nothing to you. Nothing, a toy used for amusement, or if you feel that they deserve it. You want no emotional attachment to them that can possibly be good. It will only affect you in ways you don't want. As far as your will, that's all about if you feel as if you can say the words that will end their life in your case. If you can pull the trigger to the gun to eliminate them. If you can thrust the blade that will silence them forever. And above all, there can be no hesitation. Hesitation means you're unsure. And if you dare to try, you'll be doing nothing but harming yourself. Do you think you can bring yourself to do all of that? Cause I will not let you kill if you haven't gone through all of the steps," I explained to him, my face stolid.

I wanted him to learn to kill. There was no doubt about that. I'd prefer if he got rid of his default look on morality and start looking war through the eyes of someone who's been through the facts of murder. You let them live, you only give them an opportunity to escape and murder more people and ruin more lives. They deserved to be put down, and there was no doubt that Death Eaters would be no different from the murderers I run into. They would all die if I had anything to say about it.

"No. I'm not ready," Harry finally said dully. He seemed to be able to admit it to himself and to me. I nodded in satisfaction. He was on his way. He'd get the steps down soon. I would see him through it.

"You're not ready to kill. Not yet. But you will. Trust me, when you see what Death Eaters are capable of. What they're willing to do to you and your friends, you'll have that edge. They won't expect kids to have murderous intentions, but they just don't know what a Muggle is truly capable of. You're not the only one I'll teach it too. I'll teach it to Hermione, Ron, and perhaps others," I explained.

"Don't you think doing something like that will come back on you?" Harry asked.

"Don't care really. You will survive this war and I will ensure that we can lessen the losses on our side and get rid of the ones on Voldemort's side. That's how war works. You'd be a fool to deal with opponents using nonlethal tactics. You're only doing them a favor," I told him.

"And if I come across someone, but I don't have the nerve to kill without 'hurting myself,' so to speak?" Harry asked.

"Either learn the edges you need quickly or come get me. I have no problems executing him or her. Either way, I find that they don't deserve to live," I said coldly.

"I'm bound to believe that some of them don't want to serve him, but are forced to. I've read that the Imperius Curse was really popular during that time," Harry said. I had to admit he had a point there. Some people were forced to do Voldemort's bidding. Then again, their use was pretty temporary. Who really needed a random person who is vulnerable to the Imperius Curse when you have infamous Death Eaters like Black and the Lestranges?

"I can believe that. But it's more than likely that if anyone is Imperized to do his bidding, then it's more than likely that their use is temporary. I mean, Voldemort had the Lestranges and Black. Why would he waste even the tiniest bit of effort on someone who isn't loyal to him?" I questioned.

"That is also fair. But it might not hurt to know the difference. There are signs of being Imperized or hesitancy on their face. If enough attention is paid, you can ensure you don't kill anyone who doesn't want his bidding," Harry said.

"I'll definitely make note of that. But the ones who I can tell are doing it all willingly are getting no mercy," I said.

"Yeah, cause fuck those guys. Look, if Black shows up, are you going to kill him?" Harry asked.

"No. Because I want to watch the Dementors suck out his soul. It's not like it was worth anything in the first place," I said with a snarl.

"I could imagine my parents are rolling in their grave at what he did to them," Harry said.

"Don't worry. Every motherfucker who does bad shit will get what they have coming to them. I'd say this applies to most people who do terrible things, myself included," I said.

"Yeah, but you're not a bad person," Harry said, making me snort.

"I can kill people and enjoy it. That makes me a terrible person. No matter who I do it to. That is a fact. But when we meet Black, which is going to be unavoidable, just act as you see fit," I told him. At this point, we neared the Tower in to at all and we were done for the rest of the day.


	11. Chapter 11 - Best Christmas Presents

A/N: I'm long overdue for this chapter. If you will excuse my slacking. But here's an update.

* * *

I had a wide grin on my face as Harry and Ron grabbed my presents. Upon ripping the paper off of the brooms, both of their eyes widened before they quickly looked towards me. I couldn't hold back a laugh. It was one of the most comical looks I had ever seen.

"A Firebolt?! A _Firebolt?!"_ Ron wheezed out. I simply shrugged.

"What can I say? I've got so much money, and since I half don't use it, why not?" I said.

"But these must've cost about five hundred Galleons!" Ron exclaimed.

"Actually, it cost over a thousand, nearing two thousand. Cause I bought the whole team Firebolts as well. None of them are here, but they'll know as soon as we have our first Quidditch practice after the holidays," I said with a wide smile. If possible, I could see that Ron's jaw dropped even lower somehow, causing me to be forced to my knees from laughing. I was expecting a comical reaction, but this was better than I was expecting.

"God, I knew that I was going to enjoy your reactions, but this is too good!" I exclaimed, my chest starting to strain from laughing.

"I... I know I shouldn't be surprised, but... man, this is just ridiculous. Can you imagine the faces of everyone when we all walk onto fields with Firebolts?" Harry asked.

"I'm going to stick with my Nimbus. Personally, black's more of my color," I told him.

"Why not just paint it black?" Harry asked me.

"Paint it Black. Love that song," I said with a lazy smile. Harry crossed his arms and looked at me seriously.

"You know what I mean..." he said.

"I know what you meant. Personally, I half just don't want one. I don't like drowning myself in the good stuff. It makes me feel like a gluttonous douche. So I'm gonna stick with the Nimbus," I said evenly before smirking. "Besides, do you want me to destroy the Slytherins to the point where they're a pile of nothing?"

"Yes!" Ron and Harry exclaimed at the same time.

"That would be very satisfying," Harry said. I laughed. God, today's Christmas was the best.

"What's all the yelling about?" Hermione asked, coming down from the staircase. Ron immediately stuffed the broom under her nose and her eyes widened. "Whoa! Ron, who sent you that?"

"I did," I said, raising my hands.

"He bought me, Harry, and the whole team one. Can you believe that?" Ron said in an excited voice. Hermione's jaw dropped when she looked at me while I held my arms out on my sides with a smirk on my face.

"Admit it. Admit you're impressed," I said.

"I... I don't know what to think. Those brooms had to have cost thousands of Galleons. _Thousands,_ " Hermione stressed.

"Yet that was only over a million dollars. That's chump change. My companies earn me 2.47 million dollars per minute. _Per minute._ That's how much my inventions are worth. Not even including the weapons. They are worldwide. Used by countries all over. Even they have to admit my tech is the future. Whether they like the U.S. or not. I am the man who made the thousand, ten thousand, and hundred thousand dollar bills possible. Cause earning money is so easy now. The economy is greater than it's ever been, hunger and homelessness has been cut down to a solid almost nothing percent. Crime is also part of that category. The U.S. is the greatest it's ever been. And I stand at the center as the richest man in the world. So think about _that,"_ I concluded with an airy flourish. Before Hermione could even speak, Ron spoke up.

"Did you seriously buy Hermione one too?" he asked. This caused me to frown.

"What do you mean? I know Hermione's terrible at flying. It wouldn't be much of a use," I said, before looking back at Hermione while changing my accent. "No offense love. You're just not very good at it." Hermione nodded in understanding before looking at what Ron was talking about. He was holding another wrapped present that was obviously in the shape of a broomstick.

"Did you buy an extra?" Harry asked me.

"No. I specifically asked for nine of them. These things are super expensive. No way that they would've given me an extra one without taking more money," I said, summoning dragon hide gloves. I put them on before I unwrapped the broom and examined it.

"No card or anything. That's definitely suspicious," I said, eyeing the broom in my hands with an intense focus.

"You think Black might have something to do with this?" Harry asked, making Ron scoff.

"Black? Black's on the run! He couldn't exactly run into a Quidditch shop and bought this!" he exclaimed.

"No, but don't forget Black's reputation. He is easily one of Voldemort's most powerful supporters. All he had to do was find the owner, Imperize him, give him a Firebolt to curse, and wipe his memory. Could've walked out without a trace and boom. He's got Harry," I broke down.

"So what are you going to do with it?" Hermione asked.

"Turn it in to McGonagall. Same with all of the other Firebolts," I said evenly.

"Are you mad?" Ron questioned.

"Paranoid. There's a difference. I can't take the chance that Black saw the purchase records for my Firebolts as well and cursed them as well. They're all going to her. Including yours Ron. I don't want you to get hurt," I told him softly. I could see the intense struggle on his face, but he held his broom out for me to take. I took his broom, Harry's, and the broom that might be from Black before turning to Harry.

"Shrink the other brooms and put them in a pouch or something. We'll take them all to McGonagall at once," I told him. Harry nodded and went up to his dorm. It didn't take him long for him to come down with the other brooms already shrunken and in a pouch.

"I cast a Cushioning Charm in the bag. Just in case they're not cursed and I end up falling or something like that," Harry said. I nodded in a satisfied fashion. Trust Harry to always think smart. I held the three Firebolts in my hands as we went to down to breakfast to talk to McGonagall. When we got there, there was only one table, which was occupied with everyone except Professors Lupin and Trewlaney. There were also only three other students here for the holidays, which would definitely cause less commotion if someone saw the Firebolts.

"Merry Christmas!" Dumbledore exclaimed once we neared the tables. "As there are so few of us, it seemed foolish to use the House tables... Sit down, sit down!"

"Not now. Professor McGonagall, we have an important matter to speak with you about," I said, looking over to the Professor in particular. She saw the broomsticks in my hands and nodded before standing.

"One moment please Albus," she said, standing to her feet and following me and the others out of a door in the hallway. Once the door was closed, she immediately spoke. "Did you seriously purchase three Firebolts?"

"Nine of them for the whole team really, but that's not the point. This one..." I said, distinguishing Black's broom from the others. "Was not bought by me. It didn't come with a note card, or anything. I have a strange suspicion that Black is behind this. And since I'm paranoid, I want all of the Firebolts I bought thoroughly searched for the remotest jinxes or hexes on it. I don't want anyone getting hurt for riding these things." McGonagall nodded.

"I understand your concern. But where are the other brooms?" McGonagall asked me.

"Shrunken in this bag," Harry said, raising the bag. "Speaking of which, dad. If you will..."

"Go ahead," I said, holding the brooms in a more upward position. Harry drew his wand and shrunk the brooms in my hands before I put them in the bag and handed it to McGonagall.

"Thank you for telling me about this. Rest assured that I will do my best to return the brooms back to you in as good of a condition as possible," she said. I nodded and lead the others back into the Hall, taking a seat at the table.

"Sibyll, this is a pleasant surprise!" Dumbledore said, standing up.

"I have been crystal gazing, Headmaster," Professor Trelawney said in her mistiest, most faraway voice, "And to my astonishment, I saw myself abandoning my solitary luncheon and coming to join you. Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate? I at once hastened from my tower, and I do beg you to forgive my lateness..." I rolled my eyes. She saw herself abandoning her solitary luncheon? What a bunch of bullshit. Another reason why I never gave a fuck about Divination.

"Certainly, certainly," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "Let me draw you up a chair -"

And he did indeed draw a chair in midair with his wand, which revolved for a few seconds before falling with a thud between Professor Snape and the chair where McGonagall was sitting. Professor Trelawney, however, did not sit down; her enormous eyes had been roving around the table, and she suddenly uttered a kind of soft scream.

"I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!" Trelawney exclaimed.

"We'll risk it," I said dryly. "Plus I don't think there's a point in letting the food getting cold." Trelawney eyed me somewhat hesitantly before taking a seat at the table before opening her eyes and looking around.

"But where is dear Professor Lupin?" she asked.

"I'm afraid the poor fellow is ill again," Dumbledore said, indicating that everybody should start serving themselves. "Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas Day."

"I'm guessing you already knew that Professor," I said idly. It was stated in a calm and lazy way, but the statement itself had a big impact, causing Trelawney to eye me somewhat coldly.

"Certainly I knew, child," she said quietly. "But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous."

"I see," I said idly, but I put just enough sarcasm in my voice just to get my point across. If you knew how to play your cards right, you could definitely insult a teacher without coming off as disrespectful. At least to anyone but the person you're trying to insult. Ron, Harry, and even Hermione had to stick their faces deep in their plates to hold back their snickering. Even Snape had a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth at a glance towards him. Trelawney did not seem as pleased.

"If you must know," she said, her voice a lot less misty and more on the impatient side. "I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him -"

"Maybe the man was busy," I said, before thinking. _"Busy recovering from his werewolf transformation maybe..."_

"I doubt," Dumbledore said in a cheerful voice, but it was laced with a tiny bit of volume that even I barely caught. "that Professor Lupin is in any immediate danger. Severus, you've made the potion for him again?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape said.

"Good," said Dumbledore. "Then he should be up and about in no time...Derek, have you had any of the chipolatas? They're excellent."

The first-year boy went furiously red on being addressed directly by Dumbledore, and took the platter of sausages with trembling hands. I turned back to Harry and immediately started up a conversation with him. But we ate swiftly, but not fast enough to get sick over so we could conversate without our more delicate topics being overheard.

"My dears! Which of you left his seat first? Which?" Trelawney shrieked after the four of us got up when we finished eating.

"I dunno," Harry said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I think we're safe unless the entire castle suddenly explodes from a potion accident," I said dryly. The three kids next to me laughed at my quip while Professor Trelawney looked highly affronted at my statement. I smirked as we continued back up the castle.

After a long while of waiting for the results of the Firebolts, during which vacation ended and the common room got noisy again, we still hadn't heard anything. I knew it was going to take a while, considering there are tons of jinxes and hexes that could be cast on the brooms, but it was still tedious nonetheless.

"Had a good Christmas?" I heard Wood ask Harry. I was sitting on a soft chair near Harry, both of our noses buried in books.

"It was fair. Rather uneventful though," Harry said, his face not leaving his book.

"That's good. I've been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one... I mean... we can't afford you to - well -"

"Fall off. Just say that," Harry said, his face still not leaving the book. "And that's going to be taken care of. Dad's taken care of it."

"Dad?" Wood questioned.

"Me," I said, looking up from my book. "I've gotten some help from Lupin. He's agreed to teach Harry the Patronus Charm."

"The Patronus Charm. But..."

"It's a really advanced charm. Yes, we know. But I have the utmost confidence that Harry will be able to learn it if he really wants to, which he does. You have nothing to worry about," I said, going back to my book.

"I see. Well," Wood said before going back to Harry. "the only thing you have left to do is to order a new broom. Have you ordered one?"

"No. Not yet," Harry said, not taking his eyes off his book.

"What! You'd better get a move on, you know - you can't ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!" Wood exclaimed. I knew Ron was about to say something, who was on my left, so I swiftly kicked him in his right shin before giving him a knowing look and quickly looking back towards my book like nothing happened.

"Don't rush me Wood. I will get a new broom. You do not have to worry," Harry said, his tone slightly impatient with his Captain. Wood looked slightly abashed at Harry's tone before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Er... sorry Harry. I half forgot you take Quidditich just as serious as I do. Sometimes even more," he said.

"That's everything he does Wood. It's nothing special," I told him as we kept reading.

* * *

"At least we know that they're safe," I said as Harry handed me the bag of Firebolts.

"When can I get mine?" Ron asked, making me having to hold out a calming hand towards him.

"Whoa. Calm yourself Turbo. When we go to our next practice, I'll hand it off to you. That way you can have the field to try out the broom," I told Ron, who grinned widely.

"I just... I don't know how to thank you," Ron said.

"How about learning table manners? I do not want to see the contents of your mouth when you're eating," I told Ron. He looked up at the ceiling for a bit before nodding and holding out his hand. I shook it firmly with a smile. Glad to see we can make a compromise. I then stood to my feet.

"That's a great thing to have him promise," Hermione said, making me grin and Ron glare at Hermione.

"She's right you know," Harry said as a response to his glare. I interrupted the arguing with a raised hand.

"No point in beating around the bush right? Let's do this shit. OI!" I bellowed through the entire common room, silencing everyone. "Will everyone who is a part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, including the backup Chaser please follow me to the field." I then walked out of the portrait entrance with a smooth stride. I could tell that they were behind me even without turning around. I could hear quick footsteps, signaling that someone was quickly following me.

"Where are you taking us? Just what do you have planned?" Wood asked me.

"It's a surprise Christmas present. I think you'll enjoy it," I said, giving Wood a subtle wink. With my fast strides, and everyone else's dashing to keep up with me, it didn't take too long for us all to head out to the field. Harry and Ron stood next to me as we stood across the rest of the team.

"Alright, we're here. Now what did you want to show us that's so important?" Alicia Spinnet asked.

"Turn around. Do not turn around until I tell you to. If you do, I'll beat you into unconsciousness," I said evenly. They nodded and turned around like I requested/demanded. I then opened the bag and started placing the brooms side by side with a far enough distance so that they would be too cluttered up next to each other.

I then gestured my arm to Harry, who grew them to a normal size, the brooms immediately hovering at kickoff level. I mouthed to Harry and Ron for them to grab their brooms from the bunch before walking back next to me. Harry handed me the Firebolt that we got my some unknown, but very kind person. I walked a few inches closer to the brooms before holding my arms out to my sides dramatically.

"Alright, turn around," I said. My seven other teammates turned to face me now and then looked down at the Firebolts in front of them and seven sets of eyes widened considerably. I grinned. I could easily see that not only were they shocked, they seemed to be short of breath from the surprise. Then I could see that Wood toppled over.

"I suppose I should've known he'd pass out. Wood always did love his Quidditch," I said idly.

"This... this... this..."

"Get your words together. Come on. I'll wait," I said calmly.

"How? This must've cost-"

"Thousand of Galleons? Cost me nearly two thousand. For nine Firebolts. Compared to the money I have in the Muggle world that I can redeem for wizarding money, this is nothing. Absolutely nothing," I told them.

"Did you say nothing? Just how rich are you?" George asked me. I smiled.

"In my world, I remember when the extent of my riches made headlines. I was literally labeled as, 'The man so rich, he's priceless.' And the only thing the money as to do is rise faster than I can spend. And it's not like I spent much of the money in the first place. So again, this is chump change for me. Cause I make enough money to buy this many of Firebolts every minute," I said, causing some mouths to fall open.

"Go ahead and gawk at them. We know we did when he bought them for us," Ron said. I smiled.

"So? You gonna stand there, or are you gonna try out the brooms?" I said, gesturing to said brooms at my feet. They slowly approached the brooms, almost afraid if they were fake, but they climbed over the broom and they started floating in midair, they realized that this was no joke. This was real. They were riding international standard brooms that costs hundreds of Galleons. For most kids, they could only dream about riding this broom. But now it was reality.

"These brooms feel amazing!" Angelina exclaimed, floating higher and higher.

"You've outdone yourself this yourself this time mate," George said.

"What Forge said. This is the greatest and definitely the most expensive present I've ever gotten," Fred said.

"I think that goes for all of us," Katie said.

"It's no big deal. Now someone wake Wood up so we can get to practicing," I said, climbing on my broom and taking off as well.


	12. Chapter 12 - Black in Gryffindor Tower

A/N: I'm going to skip ahead a considerable distance. A little further than usual.

* * *

"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. I moved my neck from side to side to crack it as I spun the Firebolt from the mystery person who sent it. I was not one for wasting anything, so I decided to keep this. It was only bad news for the opposing teams.

"Mount your brooms... on my whistle... three - two - one -"

I immediately kicked off when she blew the whistle and the speed of my team's Firebolts became for a competition for which one of us on our team could make it to the Quaffle first rather than the opposing team. I decided to run interference with the other Chasers instead of going for the Quaffle. I forced Davies to divert away from the Quaffle before we collided, which was exactly what I was going for.

Upon blocking Davies, I saw that Katie had grabbed the Quaffle and easily outstripped the other Chasers in speed while making it to the hoops before scoring in no time at all.

"That's ten points to Gryffindor already! Ravenclaw just won't be able to match up to the speed of those Firebolts! Ladies and gentleman, I can safely say that this won't be much of a match at that rate!" Lee Jordan said. I smirked. He was right about that one. These brooms had blinding speed. They had old Shooting Stars. Most of them at least. Cho Chang had a Comet.

The match was, safe to say, a slaughter. Absolute slaughter. We were fifteen minutes into the match, and we were up by one hundred and seventy points. Ravenclaw only scored a few goals. They had to keep running Bludger interference with Wood to get any points on the board. It was pretty insane actually.

Then out of the corner of my eye as I was speeding towards the goals, I saw a flash of black. That color was rather unusual to be on the field without other color accommodating it. So it caught my attention.

As I turned, I saw three Dementors heading towards Harry. NO. Not this time. I instantly dropped the Quaffle and sped towards the small pack of Dementors. Without stopping and with the force of a bullet, cold cocked the first Dementor I saw. I heard a satisfying break, and I smiled. It wouldn't matter too much considering Dementors were only really affected by the Patronus Charm, but it felt really satisfying to break something.

But it wasn't long before a shout of _"Expecto Patronum!"_ from a familiar voice that I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. I immediately turned to see that a Patronus as bright as a star in the form of a stag was charging towards me and the Dementors.

I instantly flew upward and looked towards where Harry was. He looked to be completely unaffected by the Dementors, and come to think of it, so did I. Though I wasn't complaining. On the contrary, his face was one of pure glee as he had the Snitch tightly gripped in his left hand and his wand gripped in the other while flying in the air, both arms out as if he was embracing the world.

"Fuck you! Ain't nothing stopping this train!" I heard him yell in pure joy. I smiled. He pulled off a Patronus charm against three Dementors when it was completely unexpected. THAT was magical power.

Both of us head towards near the same spot on the ground and we instantly clapped fists and raised them high in celebration before holding our other arms to the crowd, whose roars were deafening. Then we had the other five of our team come over to us and we all partook in a group hug tight enough to squeeze the breath out of a troll.

"Hell yeah kid!" I said, clapping him hard on the back after we all separated. All three of our female members had kissed us both on the cheek, to which of course Fred and George waggled their eyebrows to before clapping us both hard on the back. That was certainly a way to stick it to Dementors. Knock them the fuck out then give them a Patronus to tell their ugly ass grandchildren about.

"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!"

"Well done, Harry!" Percy said, looking delighted. "Ten Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me -"

"Good for you, Harry!" Seamus Finnegan roared.

"Ruddy brilliant!" Hagrid boomed over the heads of the milling Gryffindors.

"That was quite some Patronus," Professor Lupin said next to us.

"You learn fast as _hell_ son. I'm very impressed," I said with a proud smile. He gave me a wide grin before giving me a hug and backing up, so restless you could've sworn you injected enough sugar into him to crash ten Aragogs.

"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they - er - weren't Dementors," Professor Lupin said, making me look at him with a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Come and see - " Lupin said before leading us away from the big group towards the edge of the field. "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright."

My eyes widened and I pushed ahead of Lupin to see that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, were all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. But Malfoy was also nursing a broken jaw courtesy of me. Though that wasn't all he was going to suffer from. I was pissed.

"Locomotor Mortis!" I heard a shout, but I acted on instinct and jumped over the hex headed for me to bind my legs before I started running towards the four Slytherins. Whoever cast the curse definitely saw my anger coming. It wasn't going to stop me.

Upon seeing me, my fast rate of running, and my furious look, they instantly looked terrified and tried to crawl away from me. When I got near them, I managed to stop myself while clenching my fists to try and calm down.

"You're starting to let your anger control you. Don't do it to yourself," I said to myself. I then took a deep breath before turning to McGonagall and speaking in a dark and low tone. "I suggest you get them away from this field before the sight of their faces makes me lose what little control I have."

"Your warning has been noted. Mr. Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, and Flint. Come with me," McGonagall said in a sharp tone. I could even hear a little coldness in her tone.

"Wha abo my waw?" Malfoy mumbled, pointing to his broken jaw. By the looks of things, my blow had also knocked a few teeth out as well. Serves the bastard right.

"We'll take you to the hospital wing on the way. Move," McGonagall said, not giving him any sympathy in her tone. Then she led the four away as the others approached me from behind.

"I'm surprised you stopped," Harry said idly.

"I find that when it comes to you, I let my anger get the best of me. And that is not in my Modus Operandi," I said, using the official term rather than the acronym.

"Modus Operandi... Doesn't that mean a particular way of doing something?" Harry questioned.

"Correct. That's what happens when you have your face in books," I said, tapping his forehead with my index finger.

"I have you to thank for that I suppose," Harry said as George forced his way over to us.

"Hey! "Party! Gryffindor common room! Now!" he exclaimed. I wrapped my arms around Harry's and Ron's necks as we went back up the common room.

The entire common room was so turned up, that it seemed like the Quidditch Cup had already been won. But I suppose this celebration came from Harry's outstanding performance of the Patronus Charm. I wouldn't be surprised if Flitwick would take a particular interest in Harry because of that feat. The Patronus Charm was no easy task.

"How did you do that?" Angelina Johnson squealed as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd.

"With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Fred muttered in Harry's ear. But I was close enough to hear what he said.

"I'm a little lost on that one," I told Harry.

"They're the creators for the Marauders Map. No idea who they are though," Harry said.

"Whoever they were, they were extremely skilled to make something like that," I said before my eyes wandered over to Hermione, who was reading a book over in the corner. "Trust Hermione to have her nose in a book as a party's going on."

We walked over to her, and plopped ourselves in the chairs next to her. I snatched the book from her grasp while keeping my finger lodged in the page.

"Take a break for once," I said, holding the book up. Hermione simply rolled her eyes as there was no convincing me out of this.

"Did you come to the game?" Harry asked her.

"Of course I did. And I'm very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday," Hermione said, reaching for the book but I wasn't having none of it.

"Like I said, take a break. You read at a fast rate. It won't take you long," I told her.

"He's right Hermione. Come and have some food," Harry said, looking over at Ron. The divide between the two was apparent, but it somehow grew in intensity.

"I can't, Harry. I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!" Hermione said, now sounding slightly hysterical. "Anyway..." She glanced over at Ron too. "He doesn't want me to join in."

"You don't have to give a shit. The two of us still like you. And honestly, if you want to, that's all you have to care about," I told her. She looked at me and her expression was pondering. She was definitely thinking about my words.

"You know," Ron said loudly. "if Scabbers hadn't been eaten, he could've had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them -"

Whatever effect my words had on her at the moment was negated as Hermione burst into tears. Before me or Harry could say or do anything, she snatched the enormous book from my hand and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight. I looked towards Ron with an angry expression, but Harry put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a stony look.

"Leave him to me," Harry said, his tone even. But I could tell there was some type of hidden intent there. Even I couldn't figure out what it was. I had enough of the party and opted more on a quiet place.

I went outside and grappled up to the top of the castle. Standing on the narrow tip that was at the very top of the castle, I surveyed the blue sky and the Forbidden Forest as I shifted my head. There was a calming stillness about the place; Like a spell had been cast over the whole atmosphere, stilling nerves and emotions alike. At times, I loved when the area was like this. Just nice and peaceful.

I walked back to the castle at around midnight. But I as I climbed through the window of my dorm, I could hear that the party was still going on. I groaned and opted to go back out of the window. I went down to the grounds and wished I still had the virtual reality machine. Unfortunately, it was not allowed to be around the castle. It was such a shame too. So I decided to brush up on my skills. Kind of go over my combat techniques. Firing any guns would attract too much noise. Sure I could've used suppressors, but there was no fun in that.

I ended up practicing for about two hours before I got bored and went back to the castle. At that time, I could see that the castle was wide awake and buzzing. The attention seemed to be centered around Ron. I knew instantly something was wrong.

"What's all the fuss about?" I asked, approaching them.

"Where were you?!" Ron exclaimed.

"Out. You know parties aren't my thing. Sometimes, at least. Are you going to tell me what happened?" I questioned.

"Ron had a delusion that Sirius Black was hanging over his bed with a knife," George said, looping his finger in a circle.

"Now, really, enough's enough!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she came barreling through the portrait. "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" Percy said, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare -"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!" Rather than trying to prove whether Ron was delusional or not, I decided to look for evidence.

I cut on AS mode and isolated previous footprint tracks that came through here at least 20 minutes ago. A few matched Professor McGonagall's, but there were a few footprints that were definitely not hers. And they were too big to match any of the students. If it wasn't Black, it was definitely some other adult. But that wouldn't make sense.

"He's not lying," I said, leaning up from off the ground.

"How do you figure that?" Percy questioned pompously. I gave him a withering look before pointing to my eyes, which were glowing a light blue from my AS contacts. He backed away from me upon seeing it.

"With Area Surveillance Vision, I can detect the imprints of previous marked footprints and isolate time frames in between them," I told Percy.

"Ok. In a way all of us can understand," Fred said.

"Basically, I can see what footprints came through here in the last twenty minutes by separating time frames. I can definitely see imprints of boots coming through this area. Definitely a wizarding design, but very worn judging by the irregularity of the design at the bottom. If anyone was here, it had to be Black," I told them. Ron immediately gestured to me with a hard emphasis.

"See! And even if you don't believe either of us, ask him!" he exclaimed, at pointing the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw -"

McGonagall looked suspiciously at me and Ron, but went to go check the portrait nonetheless. The whole common room listened with bated breath.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" we heard her ask

"Certainly, good lady!" Sir Cadogan cried. My eyes widened. Why would Cadogan do that? There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.

"You - you did?" Professor McGonagall said. "But - but the password!"

"He had 'em!" Sir Cadogan said proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!" I instantly looked at Neville who locked eyes with me, and looked terrified. Black had somehow got a hold of the paper Neville used to help him remember the passwords. And that was exactly how Black had gotten inside. I can't believe I didn't think of that scenario happening.

Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk.

"Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air. I had to rub my temples. That was the closest to Harry that Black had gotten. And he was only a bed away.

"We'll focus on that later," I said, cutting McGonagall off. "Right now, see if the teachers can find him." McGonagall looked at me and nodded before striding out of the portrait. I looked to everyone.

"Everyone, get your wands out and stay alert. No matter how good Black is, his chances aren't good with an entire common room of witches and wizards along with a Muggle who will snap his neck on sight," I told everyone. They ignored my last jibe about snapping Black's neck and scrambled to go up to their dorms to get their wands. Tonight was another night for caution. If only I was here. I would heard the bastard come in and handed him over to the Dementors. As much as I hated those creatures, I hated Black even more. And I would see him _suffer._


	13. Chapter 13 - A Bigger Family

"Exams are over! Finally!" Ron exclaimed happily.

"Oh, stop exaggerating. It wasn't that bad," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Easy for you to say that. Except on Defense Against the Dark Arts. I know the boggart..." Both Hermione and Harry elbowed Ron hard, but I raised a hand to signal it was alright, even though my shoulders had gone rigid.

"It's alright. I freaked out when the boggart showed up. Which is why I blew the boggart to pieces before it got a chance to fully form. Only creature I hate worse than boggarts are Dementors. And perhaps Malfoys. All three pretty terrible..." I said with a fake thoughtful look, making everyone laugh. To be honest, I did more than just blow the boggart to pieces. I fired off ten rockets from my launcher, nearly incinerating the entire inside of the trunk. Good thing the thing was big enough for me to do that. The alternate option would've been relentless bullets from a machine gun.

"Anyway, what do you suppose we oughta do? Go see Hagrid? Relax in the common room?" Ron asked.

"Let's go see Hagrid. Haven't seen him in a while apart from lessons," Harry said. I nodded and we began heading towards his hut. When we knocked, he looked positively excited to see us.

"Just finished your exams?" he asked. We nodded. "Glad you came to see me. I know things have been a little busy what with exams and the excitement of the Quidditch Cup. I can't blame you for being a little swamped."

"We're here to talk together now. That's all that matters," I said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Dad?" Harry asked. Hagrid looked confused for a moment before giving a look of realization.

"Sometimes I forget you two are that close. Those statements remind me of how much you've both grown together," Hagrid said proudly, making me smile.

"I couldn't be more proud of him," I told him before turning back to Harry. "Alright, what is it?"

"You said you had a surprise for us on Halloween, but we never saw it. Do you still have it?" Harry asked, making my eyes widen in realization and caused me to smile. I really wanted to show it off, but the night had gotten away from me.

"Oh, yeah! I did forget about that. Trust me, it would've been cooler to showcase it on Halloween, but now's a good enough time. Everyone, mind giving me a few minutes to change? Won't take but a sec," I said.

"The surprise involves clothing? Just what were you planning to wear?" Ron asked me.

"You'll see in a moment. Now scoot for a moment," I said.

"Alright. Fang too?" Hagrid asked.

"I don't think Fang really cares. Even if he did, he's asleep," I said, pointing to the snoozing dog.

"Fair point," Hagrid said, walking out of the hut with the others. I quickly moved to change out of my traditional attire with something new. As soon as I strapped the boots on, which were a much more comfortable fit than I thought, I walked outside with a confident stride. I was met with wide eyes from a few people.

"Wow. That's impressive," Hermione said.

"Isn't it?" I said, holding my hands out and spinning on the heel of my boots. (Basically I'm wearing Erron Black's costume, including the hat with no cape and in black. There are times I do whatever the fuck I want. This is one of those cases) "I look so much like a Wild West badass."

"The amazing thing is that the clothing looks really authentic. Old school rifle rounds around the hat, the leather material, the boots. You legitimately look like you came straight out of the 1800's," Hermione said, trailing parts of my clothing with the tips of her fingers.

"Thanks. Inspired by another game that I've seen. Though the cape that was in the original design was a little too much for me and it came in brown. As you all know, black is more of my color," I said before spinning my revolvers stylishly before shooting a tree dead center in a second flat. "Bullseye."

"That's a pretty fancy design," Hagrid said.

"Thanks. I drew the design myself, but I had a company make it for me. I didn't have the time, but I did have the money. I'm going to start wearing this a lot more," I said before spinning the revolvers one last time and pocketing them in the holsters. I walked back inside the house, but noticed a familiar shape moving in a the corner. I immediately went over to it, and, before it could make a quick dash out of the cracked window, grabbed it by the tail and held it up.

"Uh huh. I knew you weren't dead," I said, showing the rat to Ron. His eyes widened.

"Scabbers!" Ron said blankly, taking his rat from my grasp. "Scabbers, what are you doing here?"

"Damn, he looks awful," I said, pointing to the rat. He was thinner than ever, large tufts of hair had fallen out leaving wide bald patches, and he writhed in Ron's hands as though desperate to free himself. This rat seemed to have gone senile from living so long.

"It's okay, Scabbers!" Ron said. "No cats! There's nothing here to hurt you!"

"I'd say that he's definitely gone a little crazy though. Maybe it's from how long he's been living," I said, looking at the rat curiously.

"It's getting dark awful early," Hagrid said, looking out the window. "You four better get out of here."

"Right. Wasn't that long of a visit, sadly," I said. Hagrid waved a dismissive hand.

"Ah, it's fine. Besides, there's plenty of time before the year ends considering you don't have exams," he said. I nodded and waved farewell before walking out of the door with the others. I grabbed another one of my revolvers out of the holster of my pants and began spinning it stylishly.

"Could you show off anymore?" Harry asked.

"Give me a moment. I'm sure I could," I said with a cocky smirk.

"OW!" Ron suddenly exclaimed. "He bit me!" I put the revolver back in the holster and looked over to see than there was in fact a small cut on one of his fingers.

"What's his problem?" Harry asked, looking at the squirming rat. Then far off, I could see exactly what was the problem. Crookshanks, as if he sensed that Scabbers had been found, was coming towards us at a fast pace.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!" He ignored her demand that sounded more like a request and continued towards us. Scabbers ended up squirming through Ron's hands and dashing off, Crookshanks directly behind him. I groaned. I was getting a little tired of this game of Cat and Mouse. Regardless whether Scabbers was a rat, the name was still fitting.

I started running off to pursue the cat from trying to eat Scabbers. _Again._ I pounced on Crookshanks and stopped him from chasing Scabbers, but the rat in question was going to be a lot harder to chase down cause it was so small.

Scabbers had gotten far by the time I had handed the cat off to Hermione. I had finally managed to grab ahold of the stinking rat after a few moments and I let the others catch up while forcing the thing in Ron's pocket.

"I'm building you a cage for him. Cause I'm getting tired of chasing cats and rats," I told Ron as I handed him Scabbers.

"I think that'll be the best de-" Ron was cut off as he let out a scream of pain. My eyes quickly widened and I saw Ron had fallen to the ground before being dragged off into the woods. Even though I could see well in the dark, I could see Ron, but I couldn't see what was pulling him away. I think I needed to, cause if I didn't, I wouldn't know if pulling Ron would also end up with me pulling his leg off.

I switched to thermal vision just because it would work just as good as AS and I haven't used it in a while. A presence in the shape of a dog was quickly dragging Ron as if he were weightless. But as I moved to run off towards the pair, I could feel sharp claws inject themselves into my neck accompanied by a surplus of fur.

Without looking, I yanked the cat off my back and pinched one of the cat's nerves in its body. It yowled from the pain, but fell unconscious soon after. I then threw the cat in Hermione's arms without a care.

"If that cat doesn't learn to behave, I'm going to cut its fucking paws off," I growled before chasing after Ron. I was left with nothing but the heat of the dog's footprints, which lead straight to the Whomping Willow.

"Great. I don't suppose this thing is replaceable if I burn it to the ground," I said, knowing what the Whomping Willow was capable of. I would just have to dodge the branches.

"Leave it to me. _Immobulus!"_ Hermione exclaimed, pointing her wand and the Willow. The constantly swishing branches stilled.

"Brilliant as always. Now, we need to get in there to get Ron out," Harry said, drawing his wand as well. I drew a non-lethal shotgun that the dog should be able to survive. I didn't want to kill the thing. I wasn't for killing everything that was a threat to me. Most of the time I was, but in some cases I could be merciful. Animals could get leniency for the most part. People could not. Because people are a lot crueler and more of a threat if you let them live. Animals go on and mind their own business after you whoop their asses. That's usually how it works. Usually.

We followed the tunnel that the Whomping Willow led us down, and I mentally calculated the route that it was taking us towards. It wasn't toward the castle, but rather towards Hogsmeade. Why did the tunnel lead to Hogsmeade?

"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione said, eyeing the boarded windows all around us.

"I know you're right. But why does a tunnel under the Whomping Willow lead to the Shrieking Shack?" I asked.

"I have a sneaking suspicion we're about to find out," Harry said, making the hairs on my neck stand up. I had a feeling he was right, and the answer may not be one we were expecting and/or going to like.

When I heard moaning coming from one door, I immediately suspected it to be Ron. I looked at the two teens on my sides, and they nodded with their wands at the ready. Hermione perhaps having a little more trouble than normal cause of Crookshanks.

I charged through the door with my shoulder and aimed my shotgun throughout to the room to quickly survey it. On a four-poster bed with dusty hangings, lay Ron was clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle. I immediately went over to him while keeping my shotgun at my side and summoning a hypo.

"All the animals have been acting extremely strange lately," I said, injecting Ron in his leg with my hypo. "Come on. Get up so we can get out of here."

"It's a trap," Ron said, making my eyes widen. "The dog... he's not a dog. He's an Animagus."

"An Animagus of who?" I questioned as I turned around. Just as I did, the door closed by itself. Or rather, not by itself. Standing behind the door, with the gaunt and haunted face of a corpse, dirty matted hair, waxy skin, and yellow teeth that were bared into a grin, was Sirius Black. The coldness in me rose instantly.

 _"Expelliarmus!"_ he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at us. Harry and Hermione's wands as well as my shotgun went flying to the side of the room. But, with a simple thought, Harry summoned his wand back to his hand and I did the same with my shotgun. His eyes widened upon seeing this, but before he could move his wand again, Harry was far faster in his next wand movement.

 _"Expelliarmus! Ossa praevaricator!"_ Harry exclaimed viciously, not bothering to say them non verbally. Harry's first spell was deflected, but the close proximity of his Bone Breaking Hex surpassed the speed of which Black could move his wand for another deflect, and his hand was broken immediately. I immediately stepped forward with a strong foot, cocked my shotgun, and hit him in the gut with the shotgun, sending him spinning towards the wall next to him. As he attempted to stand, I saw that the side of his face was bruised. But Harry was not going to give him the luxury of being able to stand.

Without a word, Harry cast an _Incarcerous_ at Black, instantly binding him to the floor. My non lethal shotgun blast had broken a few of his ribs, and the ropes were digging hard into his chest. I also saw that some of the ropes were bound to his neck. Enough to make him struggle for breath, but not enough to kill him. That was definitely a cruel way to bind someone. And Harry meant to do it too. I could tell.

"Don't bother getting up," Harry said coldly.

"Impressive spell work. I don't think they teach Bone Breaking Hexes to 3rd years though," Black croaked out, his voice sounding like he hadn't used it for years. He probably didn't.

"You can thank my guardian for that. He doesn't believe mercy should be shown to murderers and pitiful criminals such as yourself. I can say that I quite agree with that statement now," Harry said, walking up to him and sitting Black up while putting a strong grip around his throat. His wand was at his side, poised for a curse to finish him with. Black looked at the wand at Harry's side and the cold look on Harry's face.

"Going to kill me Harry?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I want to see if I can handle having your blood on my hands or should I watch as the Dementors suck your soul out," Harry said savagely, breaking out of his cold demeanor and going to angry now. What little color Black had in his face since this encounter had suddenly drained out like water down a garbage disposal.

"You are certainly not a child anymore. I see that now. You look like a person ready for war," he said.

"Of course he does. Because I taught him. And I'll be damned that he isn't fully prepared when he goes to war when your master returns," I said, holding the shotgun with both hands in an upward position.

"My 'master?'" Black questioned before a type of hollow grin came across his face. "Ah. Of course. How can I forget that people think I was a spy to Lord Voldemort for over a decade? It's exactly why the Dementor's Kiss is my sentence in the first place. I've always hated politics." The croaky tone was gone, and now he was getting more of his regular voice back. It sounded like a relatively long suffering one as he spoke about politics. To be honest, I felt the same way.

"What do you mean people 'think?' People _know._ People saw you. You can't hide from that," Hermione said, her voice coming out half confident, half timid. I don't think she had ever looked a murderer in the eye before. I had looked many of them in the eye as I killed them. This was no different. But Harry was staring at Black with a type of angry control. He was handling this better than expected.

Then he leaned towards Black's ear with a type of hiss in his voice. And what came out of his voice certainly was not English.

 _"Liv Selllll Baseeechi,"_ Harry hissed in Parseltongue. At least, that's what it sounded like. The hiss and venom was apparent in his words, and honestly, that's a very intimidating thing to do. The sound of Parseltongue even made the hairs on my neck stand up. Black's eyes widened after he heard Harry say the words.

"You speak Parseltongue? I've heard only Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort could only speak the language, but..." I had to cut him off there.

"Hold on. You just said Voldemort's name. That's not a thing that's allowed among anyone, now is it?" I questioned somewhat sarcastically while raising an eyebrow. Black laughed. Not a maniacal laugh or a sinister one. A genuine one. One filled with true amusement. It was slightly strangled among the ropes that were binding his neck.

"And you honestly think I give a fuck about what Moldy Voldy thinks of me? We fought him for years in the last war. Fearing his name is the last thing I fear. I'm fearing that shotgun of yours more than I'm fearing his name," Black said with a grin, making me have to raise an eyebrow. I made my shotgun disappear before walking over to Black slowly.

"What are you doing?" Ron asking me. I ignored him. I cut the binding to his left arm before holding his arm out. But I heard footsteps up, and my shoulders tensed up in alertness.

 _"Expelliarmus! Stupefy!"_ I heard Lupin exclaim, but the moment I heard the "ex" from his Disarming Charm, I was already moving. I had summoned my metal whip attachments to my arms, which I didn't use often, and lashed out with them. Lupin blasted them back, but his wand was already out of his hand from Harry's wordless Disarming Charm after he quickly summoned it back to his hands.

"Calm your ass Lupin. I'm not going to kill him unless I see something under his sleeve I really don't want to see," I said, walking back over to Sirius. I rolled down his left sleeve, and there it was: No Dark Mark.

"Oh, man. This oughta be a good story," I said, slashing Black's bindings with my goblin made sword that I summoned. His eyes widened as he saw he was completely unharmed after my slash and looked up at me. I then lowered myself down to his level and injected a healing hypo into his neck, healing his broken hand.

"You are certainly smarter than most people I've run into. They would've bound me, gagged me, and dragged me to the Dementors without a word," Sirius said, rubbing the parts the rope had cut into his body.

"I've run into too many cases where people would've been sent to jail without justification if I hadn't done a little more looking into it. Even if I did loathe you before, it was only right that I take another deeper look. Glad I did," I said with a nod.

"Are you seriously trusting him?!" Harry exclaimed, gesturing at Black.

"Yes I am," I said, tossing Lupin's wand back to him. "Simply because he does not have the Dark Mark on his wrist."

"What does that have to do with-"

"You really oughta brush up on your war history son. In the first war, Voldemort considered the Dark Mark, his symbol for his Death Eaters and the insignia he cast into the sky over a house whenever he killed, to be an honor. If you had the Dark Mark on your arm, you were considered honored. You were considered to be a true Death Eater. You're telling me that Sirius Black, the man the Ministry claims to be Voldemort's most loyal supporter, even beyond the Lestranges, does _not_ have the Mark? Seems unlikely to me," I explained to him before looking back at Sirius. "That does not mean I do not want an explanation though. I do want an answer as to why you were even able to be set up like that in the first place." Sirius gave me a short bow.

"And you'll have it. I definitely owe Harry that much," he said, looking at the child in question. Harry simply gave Black and icy stare, but Sirius simply nodded before starting with his story. But before he could even get started, I heard a pop behind me, making me quickly turn and cock my shotgun again. Out of the doorway came Snape with his wand raised. The pop was him wordlessly disarming Lupin.

"I'm sure you're surprised to see me," Snape said, his face glittering with suppressed triumph and his eyes shining brighter than I've ever seen them.

"Very, but it is unnecessary to continue with the dramatics. Black is not a Death Eater like we initially thought, which most likely means that everything else we presumed about him was wrong too. You're just in time to take a seat to listen to the story if you wish," I said, gesturing to the four poster bed that was in the room as an example. But then something caught my attention.

Sirius and Snape were looking at each other with an intense hatred. I've never really seen Snape look so livid. And Sirius didn't give any of us a look this angry, and I had a shotgun pointing at his gut. Granted, the shotgun was not lethal, but still. Now I see what was personal about Black now. He absolutely hated him. And judging by the way Sirius was looking at him back, the feeling was mutual.

"Severus, you're making a mistake," Lupin said urgently. "You haven't heard everything - I can explain - Sirius is not here to kill Harry -"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," Snape said, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this...He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin...a tame werewolf -"

"Severus, calm down. Let's discuss this like adults," I said, holding a hand out towards the man. Then his wand suddenly jerked towards me, and it took all of the self control I had not to blast him in the gut for this.

"You, Potter, Weasley, and Granger are facing suspension from this school for being in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. So hold your tongue," Snape said.

"I will not. Do you even realize..."

"DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Snape exclaimed. I looked at him with a frown and I gripped my shotgun tighter. He was acting out of anger, and it was more than likely he was willing to take it all the way.

"Your anger is making you careless Severus," I told him calmly before I heard a roar of rage. Sirius started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between his eyes.

"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Sirius stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.

They were staring at each other with an equal amount of loathing. I trusted Snape more than I trusted Sirius, but I knew when someone was acting on anger. I had done it for a while until I had learned to sedate it. And it looked like he was beyond reason at this point. I knew what I had to do. So I aimed my shotgun at Snape and pulled the trigger, hitting him directly in the chest and knocking him to the floor hard.

"Sorry Severus," I said before swiftly punching him in the back of his head and knocking him out to finish the job. I stood up and made my shotgun disappear before grabbing Snape's wand and tossing it to Sirius as well as tossing Lupin his wand back to him.

"Thanks," Sirius said, looking at Snape with distaste. "Greasy bastard."

"We'll worry about your loathing for Snape later. Right now, you owe me a story," I told Sirius in a serious voice. (Pun intended. I'm sorry. I should edit that out.)

"And you'll have them. Ask away," Sirius said, sitting on the floor and looking at me directly.

"Firstly, cause I'm very curious, how did you not go insane from living in Azkaban for twelve years, much less escape?" I questioned. "I mean, they still have Dementors as prison guards, right?"

"Of course they do. As for the first part of your question... I really don't know how I did it. I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions... They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog... but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand..."

"Then how'd you get out?" Ron asked, but Sirius ignored him as he continued. Sirius seemed to be in a daze, no one able to interrupt him in his monologue.

"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..." I had to cut him off there, the most bewildered look I had on my face tonight.

"Surely you can't have been talking about Peter Pettigrew?" I questioned. A snarl rose to his face at the very mention at his name before looking towards Ron.

"The very same. The very reason I was framed for all of those murders in the first place. But I'm not allowing him to get the better of me this time!" Sirius growled.

"And do you have the slightest idea where he is?" I asked. Sirius raised a bony finger, which was directed at Ron.

"Me? You're mental!" Ron exclaimed.

"Not you!" Sirius exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "Your rat!" My eyes widened as I looked at the erratic Scabbers. If Sirius was an Animagus, he was friends with Harry's father, and Sirius was friends with Lupin, and Harry's father was also friend with Pettigrew... did that mean they were all Animagi? If that was the case, why weren't we warned about that? Unless...

"You were all unregistered Animagi, weren't you?" I asked, looking dead at Sirius. He looked at me with a surprised look before it quickly turned into a grin.

"My, my, my, you think fast. Just about everyone in our group was an unregistered Animagus all except Moony. I daresay it's really the reason that I'm even here to tell this story. They were expecting to be looking for a demented prisoner, not a giant wolf beast that looks like it can rip someone's throat out without effort," Sirius said.

"Moony. Now you're telling me that you were all the creators of the Marauder's Map?" Harry questioned. Both Lupin and Sirius looked at Harry in surprise.

"You have the Map?" they both asked at the same time. Harry summoned it to his hand and showed it to them. Sirius grinned.

"How'd you manage to find it?" Sirius asked.

"A couple of friends of mine. They stole it from Filch's office," Harry said before making the Map disappear.

"That doesn't look like any charm I know," Sirius said with a curious look after Harry made the Map disappear.

"That's cause it's technology," I said. Sirius looked at me like I was crazy.

"Technology doesn't work anywhere near the Hogwarts grounds," he said.

"You can thank Mundungus Fletcher for that. He had some kind of operation going on that involved these data chips with magical imprints on them. It basically allows your tech to work around magical frequencies. For a disgusting little drunk, it's pretty smart," I said, my voice somewhat impressed. It was a pretty smart thing to do. That didn't make me like Mundungus any less.

"That really is smart. I'd almost respect Mundungus if he wasn't sneaky slime since school," Sirius said.

"This is not a time for levity. I want to know about Scabbers being Pettigrew," Harry said.

"He's not Pettigrew! He's Scabbers!" Ron yelled.

"Alright. Then let me go over some facts with you. He's missing a toe, isn't he?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with..."

"Ron." Harry said it in a flat voice that demanded attention. "All they could find of Pettigrew was his finger. And considering that my dad and his whole group were Animagi..."

"Come off it mate! Are you seriously taking his side?" Ron asked, violently gesturing towards Sirius.

"Not taking anyone's side. I'm stating a fact," Harry said calmly.

"Just before he transformed," Sirius continued. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself - and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Ok, so Pettigrew set you up for a murder he caused and faked his death. But then there's the deaths of Harry's parents that are on your hands," I said, making the rage build in me again. I tightened my fists, but tried to control my anger. Again, things haven't quite been what we thought this whole night. This might be different as well.

But then Sirius started to shake his head, his sunken eyes suddenly bright.

"I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it... The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... what I'd done..."

His voice broke off there, and his eyes were bright with torment. The memory likely haunted him throughout his twelve years in Azkaban. And the Dementors were sure as hell going to make him relive it over and over and over again until he was driven off the edge. What a horrible way to live.

"That's not your fault and you know it," I told him in an assured voice. "You had no way to know that one of your best friends had betrayed you." Sirius had kept looking away, but his head was shifting from side to side as if he was battling within himself.

"Enough of this," Lupin said, and there was a steely note in his voice that we had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely.

"Force him to show himself," Lupin said. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head.

"Ready, Sirius?" Lupin asked. Sirius had raised Snape's wand, and, with no words needed, cast a blue-white spell on Scabbers. At first, he started floating in the air before hitting the ground with a thud with nothing happening.

But then "Scabbers'" appearance started to shift. It was like watching a sped up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up. A bitter taste came to my mouth. Sirius was telling the truth and an innocent man got a fate he didn't deserve.

I walked in front of the doorway without taking my eyes off the man. I was not letting him get away. I'd sooner kill him then let him get away again. I could see his eyes darting between the door and Sirius and Lupin, which was why I decided to move.

"S-Sirius...R-Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends...my old friends..." Sirius's wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed -"

"Remus," Pettigrew gasped, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard," Lupin said, sheer ice in his tone. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so -"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Sirius with his middle finger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too...You've got to help me, Remus..." I looked this man with an absolute loathing in my eyes. Even I hadn't looked at Black with the disgust in my eyes as I did when I thought he was the guilty one. Not only was a betrayer, he was a coward. An absolute coward. No spine, no sense of honor or dignity. Only concerned about his own skin.

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Lupin said.

"Sorted things out?" Pettigrew squealed, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Lupin said, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!" After his statement, Sirius started to laugh; a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room.

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said, making Pettigrew flinch as though he had brandished a whip at him.

"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" Sirius said. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius -" Pettigrew muttered, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," Sirius said. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter -"

"Don't know... what you're talking about..." Pettigrew repeated more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus -"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," Lupin said evenly.

"Innocent, but scared!" Pettigrew squealed. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban - the spy, Sirius Black!" Sirius' face contorted in anger.

"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bear sized dog he had been. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James..."

Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath.

"Me, a spy... must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you can say such a -"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Sirius hissed so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione said timidly. "Can - can I say something?"

"Certainly, Hermione," Lupin said courteously.

"Well - Scabbers - I mean, this - this man - he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" Pettigrew said shrilly, pointing at Harry with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?" Sirius was about to answer, but I raised a hand to signal that I had something to say.

"Yes?" Sirius asked.

"If you may allow me to, I'd like to take a wild guess as to why he never hurt Harry," I said. Sirius nodded and I looked at Pettigrew. I looked at him with a cold look and I could swear the short man looked even smaller as he tried to shy away from me.

"This pitiful little thing takes me as the type to never do things unless he gets something out of it. Everyone thinks Voldemort is dead or half dead. Now why would he touch Harry, risking people finding out that he was alive? Or the fact that Pettigrew had been the one working for Voldemort, not Sirius? Simple. He wouldn't. He wanted to make sure Voldemort was rising to power again. Powerful enough to protect him and make sure there were no repercussions on his side if he took Harry. If he took Harry and took him to Voldemort, it wouldn't have mattered that Pettigrew avoided him when he knew where he was hiding. If he brought him Harry Potter..." Now a sarcastic, yet slow and deliberate tone passed through my lips. "...The Boy Who Lived... the child to survive the Killing Curse and Lord Voldemort's wrath..." A twisted smile crossed my face, but it was anything but amused. Everything about the way my teeth were bared meant anger.

"...he'd easily be forgiven and welcomed back into Lord Voldemort's arms as a loyal follower of his cause," I finished before turning to Sirius. "What do you say about that guess?" Sirius allowed a grin to come to his face, his eyes filled with a malevolent glint.

 _"That..._ I could not have said better myself," Sirius said, with his fingers together as if he were a five star chef critiquing a dish.

"I'm also still curious as to how you got out of your cell," I asked him.

"After a bit of deliberate starving, I was thin enough as a dog to fit in between the bars and swim back to the mainland. Made my way to the north and hid in the forest, only going in the castle when I saw an opportune time to try and get to Peter. Unfortunately, it's not easy when you have people who have the alertness of hypersensitive guard dogs," Sirius said before looking at Harry, who did not look away.

"Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

"I believe you. And I forgive you," Harry said gently to his godfather. Now, I'm sure he could actually call Sirius family. With strength and loyalty like that, it's a family member well worth holding on to.

"No!"

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying. I made a disgusted face at the sight.

"How _pathetic_ you are," I spat at Pettigrew. But he ignored me and was trying to appeal to Sirius. What good was that going to do?

"Sirius - it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't -" Sirius kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," he snarled.

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this - wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," Lupin said. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.

"Forgive me, Remus," Sirius said apologetically.

"Not at all Padfoot," Lupin said, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," Sirius said, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face as he was rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," Lupin said grimly.

"You wouldn't... you won't..." Pettigrew gasped. And he scrambled around to Ron.

"Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.

"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.

"Kind boy... kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron. "You won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," Sirius said harshly. Pettigrew then turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes.

"Sweet girl... clever girl... you - you won't let them... Help me..."

Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified.

Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry.

"Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him..." At that moment, I exploded, and I was not the only one. Sirius looked ready to explode with anger. I had already burst.

I immediately grabbed Pettigrew by the front of his robes and looked at him with a death glare.

"You don't dare get to talk about them. You besmirched Sirius' name, Harry's parents' _real_ friend, and led to their death. How much more of a disrespectful, loathsome piece of slime can you be Pettigrew?!" I snarled in his face. He looked at me in fear, and I shook him hard, the look on my face becoming more intense. But then I suddenly dropped him as I stood over him with a resigned look. After a display of anger like that, it was startling.

"Well... we don't have to worry about that anymore. Once we get to the castle... I daresay you'll be the one receiving the Dementor's Kiss instead of Sirius once everyone knows what you truly are," I said calmly, making Pettigrew go paler than bleach. "Scared? Not surprised. But I'm sure that the rest of us will relish at the sight of the Dementors sucking what little of a pitiful soul out of your body that you have. I hate those things, but I hate you even more. You have robbed my child of the parents he never knew as well as the family that he deserved instead of ten years in a hellhole. I don't give a damn what the Ministry may say. I want to see you _suffer."_

My words rang throughout the building like a strike of a gong. Pettigrew looked around the room in fear, but saw that there was no chance of him getting out of this. Sirius looked towards me strangely.

"Should we leave it up to Harry? I mean, he is the main one -"

"He knows what I wanted. That's exactly why he suggested in the first place. I want to see him walk around with no sense of himself anymore. Let him walk this earth with nothing for him at all. A fate worst than death is what you deserve," Harry said, stomping Pettigrew's face and breaking his nose.

The look on Harry's face was so intense, but yet so very precise. It was a definition of deliberate anger, just like I had been trying to teach him. He seemed to relish in the fact of the real murderer of his parents finally getting what he deserved, and he looked relaxed. Almost at peace with himself. But then he looked towards Sirius.

"Besides, if he dies, there's not much of an opportunity for the Ministry to question him for answers. Knowing the Ministry, they'll ignore Pettigrew's corpse and saw you stashed it somewhere as a souvenir or some other ridiculous bullshit," Harry said, making Sirius smile widely at his godson.

"As thoughtful as your mother was. Thank you Harry. Thank you all, really," Sirius said, nodding to everyone around the room. I nodded to him back, and so did the others. I then looked towards Pettigrew and looked back at Sirius with a distasteful look.

"I don't want to touch this piece of shit," I told him. Sirius looked at Pettigrew with the same distasteful look that I had.

"Ugh. I don't blame you," he said, casting a wordless _Incarcerous_ curse on Pettigrew.

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked, pointing at his motionless body.

"He knows the way back. Leave him here," Sirius said nonchantly, going back to Pettigrew.

"And if he wakes up and gets the Dementors? We'll all have more Dementors to deal with than we can count," Ron said, holding his arms out.

"Ron's right. We'll take him with us. Bind him too," I told Sirius. He didn't look happy about it, but he didn't have to be as Lupin bound Snape up and kept him aloft with a spell. Crookshanks then led us back down the tunnel.

"You know what this means?" Sirius said abruptly to Harry as we made our way along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?" I could hear their conversation as I was keeping an eye on Ron and Remus, who decided to stay chained to Pettigrew.

"You're free," Harry said.

"Yes..." Sirius said. "But I'm also - I don't know if anyone ever told you - I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that," Harry said.

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," Sirius said stiffly. "If anything happened to them..."

"What - live with you?" Harry asked.

"I can understand if you don't want to, I just..." Sirius said quickly almost as if he were regretting his words, but I cut him off.

"You could live with us," I said, walking back up to Sirius.

"I heard in that conversation you called Harry your child. Are you two that close?" he asked. I put a proud arm around his shoulder and smiled as I looked down at the child that I was helping become a man.

"Yes. Yes we are," Harry said with a proud smile.

"And you are more than welcome to live with us to get to know your godson more. To be honest, you're going to have to let your innocence sink in for a while. Cause there are people bound to be skeptical of your innocence after you were practically proven guilty twelve years ago," I told him.

"That's actually a smart idea. I suppose I have to drop in the public every once in a while, but I'm sure as hell not going alone. Maybe the Ministry can provide a couple of Aurors. They could at least do that much," Sirius said, causing a grim smile to come to my face.

"I've only dabbled with politics for a few months. And I can honestly say this: Don't expect shit from the government," I told him with a smirk. Sirius gave a out a dog-like bark of laughter much like his Animagus form.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right about that one. Man, damn politics to Hell," Sirius said.

"Amen to that," I said.

We finally made it out of the tunnel, with Crookshanks hitting a pressure point on a tree to still it, which I suppose is how they got through in the first place. Compared to the Shrieking Shack, the air was a lot fresher to the point of intense relief. The cool air hitting my face was relieving, and today felt like a good day. Of course, watching Pettigrew get his soul sucked out of his mouth was going to be the main event. It was probably going to be delayed at a later date after a trial, but as long as it would happen, I was not going to complain.

A cloud shifted, and suddenly we were all bathed in moonlight. The sight of the full moon really was a beautiful sight if you liked at it with a certain perception. Then my eyes widened. Wait, full moon?

"Lupin..." I said, my tone having a warning to it.

"Uh oh. He didn't take his potion tonight!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Run. Now," Sirius warned.

"I'm not going anywhere," I told him in a firm voice. Then when I looked at Lupin, his transformation had finished. Soon after, with barely having any time to react, the werewolf had turned and pounced directly on me, his hot breath hitting my face, his drool from his rabid rage dripping on my face, and roaring loudly. I wasn't naive enough to try and believe that a werewolf would suddenly have a change of heart and not try and rip my throat out.

 _"Repulso!"_ I heard Harry shout, knocking Lupin off me. Then, with a panic, I remembered Pettigrew. I quickly rose to my feet, and, keeping my eye on Lupin with one of my eyes, looked towards where Pettigrew was previously. He was gone without a trace. I silently cursed to myself, but had not time to think what to do about it other than dodge the pounce the werewolf had sent at me. It looked back at me with a patient, yet vicious look. Its bottom jaw was quivering; wanting to come over here and rip my throat out.

"Come on then," I said, moving into a locked position with my feet firmly on the ground and my eyes more precise than a laser. Then it charged at me again, but I stood my ground. Both of our arms touched each other backs, and I could feel his claws attempting to tear into my back, but I had a firm hold on his arms by pressing my arms to my sides firmly. That prevented him from doing anything other than flailing its arms near my body, desperately trying to tear into my back with its sharp claws.

Then its jaws suddenly thrusted forward, doing its best to try and bite into my face. I had to reel my face back to avoid it, and its jaws were snapping sharply and viciously in an attempt to bite my fucking face off like a TV dinner.

"I'm not your dinner Lupin!" I exclaimed before kicking it in the chest hard, forcing him to retreat back about twelve paces. I then began to circle the werewolf and he began moving in the same circle of movement that I was, two Alphas sizing each other up.

Then we both charged at each other at the same time and I took a firm hold of him in a type of bearhug fashion, but before I could slam him, its claws attempted to tear into the leather I was wearing, but even a few claw strikes could rip through it. I managed to slam Lupin down hard and pin it down the the ground before punching Lupin in the face repeatedly, refusing to let up in the slightest.

Its claws swiped at my face, forcing me up off of him, but I had gotten a few licks in. Licks that more than likely softened its face. I had to admit though. Its claws stung like hell.

It charged again and this time, I decided on a different approach. Hitting it with a hard hammer blow that stunned it, I then raised its arm high and palmed striked it under the elbow, breaking his arm before I advanced forward slightly and hit it with ten blows to its ribs before hitting it in its jaw hard with a headbutt. It staggered make from the intensity of my blows before retreating into the woods. That did it.

I stood in an erect position and took a deep breath as I relaxed in the night air again. Lupin should be fine. He'll likely spend the rest of his night licking his wounds rather than going after anyone.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, coming up to me. "I couldn't really cast any spells in case I hit you."

"I'm fine. Just scratched up my leather. Kind of glad I wore it. Cause for whatever reason, its claws ignored my shield," I said, making note of the small item on my waist.

"That is strange. But you're alright. That's all that matters," Harry said. I didn't even smile as I looked out into the distance.

"Pettigrew's long gone. The most I can do is try to get you to a safe place. The Ministry has no idea where I live, so that's a good place. Plenty of food, entertainment. You'll be able well taken care of. Harry'll be there after the year is over. I train Special Forces troops during the first month, so you two will have plenty of time to get to know each other while I'm gone," I told Sirius.

"And how are you going to get me out of here? I don't have the strength to head all the way back to the mainland. I'm not healthy enough to Apparate cause I might Splinch myself. So what do you have that'll get me back?" Sirius questioned. I summoned my phone to my right hand and with a whoosh that was soundless, my jet immediately entered the airspace above us and I pointed upward as it arrived so silently, Sirius hadn't noticed it. He looked up and looked impressed at the sight.

"Oh. So that's how. So you plan on flying me back to your place?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just don't tell anyone that may even have the slightest idea you were innocent where I live and don't go down into my basement. That's where I keep all my projects. Other than that, go nuts. Just stay in there, clean yourself up, eat, drink a lot of booze, and watch TV or whatever. There should be plenty to entertain you," I told him. Sirius smiled.

"I really appreciate this. You have know idea," Sirius said, holding out his hand. I grasped it firmly and gave him a small hug before looking him dead in his eyes with a serious look.

"We'll get that bastard one day," I told him. Sirius' demeanor turned steely.

"I know we will. And he'll get what's coming to him," he said before turning to Harry and lowering down to his level. "Can't wait to see you again Harry."

"Me too. Which is ironic cause I went most of the school year wishing you got what was coming to you," Harry said.

"I would be thinking the same thing in your previous position. Just know that I'll do anything my friends and family," Sirius said before putting his hands on both of Harry's cheeks. "You look so much like your father. Except the eyes. You have your mother's eyes." Harry gave Sirius a watery smile before hugging his godfather tightly. It was a heartfelt hug; One the signaled the true bond that they were going to share, never to be put out if either one had anything to say about.

"Sirius, now we need to move. Snape might be waking up soon," I told him urgently even though I wished the two had more time. Sirius let go of Harry before turning to me and handing me Snape's wand.

"Give this back to ol' Greasy. I'm feeling disgusted just holding it," he said. I took the wand from his hand and gestured it to my jet. Sirius climbed inside of it and strapped himself in. I inputted the coordinates via my phone and the hatch closed soon after. Then the jet gained altitude and sped off in the distance at a fast rate. As soon as I did, when I took a deep breath, I could see my breath in the air before me. The sight worried me.

"You feel that?" Harry asked. "It got colder."

"Dementors," I said automatically, now wishing I had left that jet for a little while longer. Harry immediately had his wand and so did Hermione and Ron.

"There's not much you can do with your wands. You don't know the Patronus Charm," I told them.

"Do you have a Plan B?" Ron asked as I saw Dementors were coming from all around us. The lake, the forest. It seemed like they were just spawning from nothing.

"Not really. Standing our ground is stupid with so many Dementors and not enough defense, and our chance of making it to the castle if we run for it are very slim," I told them.

"I vote trying to run for it," Harry said.

"Me too," Ron said quickly.

"Alright. We'll run for it. Just try not to let them get to you. Harry, your Patronus should make it a little easier if it's clearing a path for us," I told him, making him nod while making a small grunting sound.

 _"Expecto Patronum,"_ Harry said, pointing his wand at the ground. What was summoned was a bright stag that was blinding to look at, but somehow made you want to stare at it even more.

"Come on," Harry said, jerking his head towards a certain direction. Harry led the way while Ron and Hermione were tailing him closely. I summoned a lethal assault rifle as I walked behind them. It wouldn't do much in deterring the Dementors, but it was something in case we needed it.

The Patronus did a good job in making the Dementors disperse. It moved back from the brightness of the spell, and it didn't seem to be gathering strength from its partners, which was really strange. But none of us were complaining. Not in the least bit.

We had managed to make our way back to the castle with the Dementors not daring to give chase. Dumbledore was furious before that they had come onto the grounds during the Quidditch game. Imagine how he'll feel if they go directly into the castle.

"I'm freezing," Ron said, rubbing his arms.

"That tends to happen after about a hundred Dementors are chasing you. You know, it tends to get a little chilly," I said sarcastically. "Kind of wish I had my regular garb on. That was cold as shit."

"I don't know. The cowboy outfit looks pretty awesome," Harry said. I summoned my hat back that I had dropped back when I was fighting Lupin and tilted it just like a cowboy.

"Much obliged partner," I said in a Wild West accent. The four of us laughed as we put our arms around each others' shoulders before heading back up to Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

"You reckon Snape'll stop being made at you?" Harry asked as I we were helping Lupin pack.

"Certainly not any time soon. I think it's quite obvious to Lupin that Snape can hold a grudge," I said as I snapped the cases together. Lupin smiled.

"Yes, I would say I'm well aware of how well Severus can hold a grudge. Though I can't say I fault him for it. It makes him reckless, it makes him impulsive, but Severus is Severus," he said idly as he floated his suitcases over to the big case and sealed it. Right at that moment, there was a knock on the door and out walked Dumbledore.

"Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he said.

"Thank you, Headmaster." Lupin picked up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank.

"Well - good-bye, Harry. Robert," he said, smiling. "It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage..." But before he could walk out, I stopped him before putting a phone in the palm of his hands and held him by his shoulders.

"If things get too tough... If you need our help at all..." I said before pointing to the phone. "...don't hesitate to call. There are only two number in the contacts: Harry's and mine. I assume you know how to use it?"

"Yes I do. Thank you. I appreciate the offer. And I'm sorry about the claw marks," Lupin said, somewhat sheepishly.

"I'm a badass. I can take it," I said with a wide grin, gesturing to my face he left that claw marks. I let them heal naturally just cause they were badass to have on my face.

Lupin gave me a smile as well before I hugged him and moved aside for Harry to hug him as well. He then walked out of the door with a somewhat fast pace. Couldn't blame him. It wouldn't take long for discriminatory people to make a fuss over him being here. In some cases, it could lead to more than just angry letters.

"Man..." Harry trailed, plopping himself in a chair and rubbing his forehead.

"Why so miserable, Harry?" Dumbledore said quietly. "You should be very proud of yourself after last night." I shook my head. It didn't surprise me Dumbledore knew what happened.

"I am. I'm just upset that Lupin had to go. If people knew Lupin like we did, they wouldn't be getting rid of him. But _no,"_ Harry said with venom in his voice. "They have to look at what Lupin's condition is, not the man himself."

"I can definitely agree with you. But unfortunately, there is not much we can do to change the opinion of others. The only thing we can do is acknowledge it, accept it, deal with it appropriately, and then move on," Dumbledore said wisely.

"Well said Headmaster," I said, nodding at the Headmaster with respect. Harry stood up from his chair and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Can we have a few rounds of Quidditch? I need something to take my mind off things," he asked before turning to Dumbledore. "If you don't mind Headmaster."

"Not at all," Dumbledore said.

"Yeah. Of course," I said, walking out of the room with Harry.

* * *

"To be honest, I'm a little nervous as to what I'm going to find," Harry said as he had his exam results folded in his hand. "Especially Runes and Arithmancy. I might've messed up on the Cleansing Rune. It might have been two dashes in the corner instead of three..." Me and Ron held out hands to Harry, and even Hermione stepped in. He was so restless and fidgety, it was ridiculous.

"Calm down mate! I'd never thought I'd see the day you look to be freaking out more than Hermione," Ron said before sitting next to Harry and putting an arm around his shoulder. "You'll be fine."

"The rest of you go first. It might calm me down a bit," Harry said. We all nodded and Ron volunteered to open his first. Ron had gotten either an E or an A on every subject. He seemed to be completely satisfied with it.

Then Hermione opened hers. She got an O on everything except Defense Against the Dark Arts. On that one, she got an E. Her score was likely reduced cause of her last minute failing of the boggart. We hadn't covered the boggart except on that one day, and she probably didn't get a chance to deal with it. So it wasn't much of a failing on her part.

Then it was my turn. I smiled as I looked at my results before showing them to everyone.

"Full marks on everything," I said in a satisfied tone.

"As if we're surprised. You remember just about everything you see or hear, remember?" Ron said rhetorically. I smiled while looking down at my lap.

"True, true," I said before looking at Harry. "Your turn kiddo." Harry slowly unfolded his results and he sighed in relief as he looked at them before looking at us with a grin.

"Full marks!" he exclaimed. I grinned as Ron clapped him on the back in celebration and Hermione had given him a hug.

"That's wonderful Harry!" she said.

"I'm not surprised. I knew you could do it if you applied yourself," I told him. Harry released himself from Hermione's hug and looked at the paper with a wide grin.

"This is the first time I've gotten all Os. This... this really feels good," he said with a grin.

"I'm sure it does. Keep up with that paper. I'm sure Sirius will be happy to see it," I said, saying the last part with an undertone as I didn't want anyone to possibly overhear it. "He'll love to see you do good in school. As well as be more involved in your life."

"Yeah, I know he will. The week can not pass by fast enough," Harry said.

The fact that we were severely wanting the week to pass by quicker only made it pass by slower, which is what I hate about the way things work sometimes. When we were on the train back home, I could see that a small gray owl was flying towards our window. I opened it upon seeing it, noticing that the letter it was carrying was way to big for it.

I put out a hand to catch it and squeezed it softly. This was the smallest owl I've ever seen. It's not much bigger than a basketball before passing it to Ron, who seemed interested in examining the owl. Harry, in the meanwhile, had grabbed the letter it was carrying, and a grin crossed his face.

"It's from Sirius!" he exclaimed quietly, trying to make sure no one overheard them.

"What?" Ron and Hermione said excitedly. "Read it aloud!"

 _"Dear Harry,_

 _I couldn't resist getting this to you before you got here. I made it to the disclosed location that your friend mentioned, and it's defintiely better than I initially thought. I am planning to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way from Hogwarts, so that the security on the castle will be lifted. Just for a moment, then I'll work my way back to that location you mentioned. And there is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt -"_

"Ha!" Hermione exclaimed in a triumphant tone. "I told you it was from him!"

"Yes, but he hadn't jinxed it, had he?" Ron said. "Ouch!" The tiny owl now hooting happily in his hand, had nibbled one of his fingers in what it seemed to think was an affectionate way.

 _"Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from my own Gringotts vault. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays' worth of presents from your godfather."_

 _"Now this part is for your Muggle guardian. We hadn't quite gotten on a first name basis with each other, so that's about as accurate as I can get. But thank you._

 _I don't know how you found Harry, but however you did it, I'm extremely grateful for it. I knew that Harry was previously living with Lily's sister and her husband, and I was sure, from what I heard about them from James before he died that they were god awful people, and they would treat Harry the same way. Only to find out that you took custody of him and put them in jail. I am indefinitely indebted to you, and if there is any way I can repay you, I'm sure as hell going to do it. I owe you everything for doing everything for Harry that I was unable to do."_

 _"Have a safe trip home and I can't wait to see you when you get here." ~ Sirius._

 _"P.S: I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat." Ron's eyes widened. The small owl was still hooting excitedly._

"Keep him?" he said uncertainly.

"That's what he said, didn't?" I said with a grin.

He looked closely at the owl for a moment; then, to our surprise and bewilderment, he held him out for Crookshanks to sniff.

"What do you reckon?" Ron asked the cat. "Definitely an owl?" Crookshanks purred.

"That's good enough for me," Ron said happily. "He's mine."

As we stepped off the train, we all stood around together. Henry was sure to be waiting outside, waiting to take me near my house again.

"I'll see if I can get _my_ owl to you about the World Cup," Ron said, putting emphasis on the word. He was really excited about having this owl as a pet.

"I'll see if I can get us tickets. I know Harry'll be happy to watch Quidditch without feeling competitive," I said with a grin, putting an arm around his shoulders. Harry grinned back as we said our farewells and walked away. Henry took us to our destination, and we made the walk up to my place. Harry was now able to do the walk up here effortlessly cause he was in such good shape.

"And there are the people I've been the most anxious to see!" Sirius exclaimed as we walked in, standing up from the couch. He looked in much better shape than I had seen him. His hygiene was better in every way, and he certainly looked like he had eaten a lot better. Color was coming back to his skin, and he had a warm demeanor about him. This was the real Sirius Black. The man before Azkaban. I didn't even comment on the fact that he had taken some of my clothes. I _did_ say help himself.

"Firstly, lemme get your name down before we do anything else," Sirius said, pointing to me.

"Robert," I said.

"Robert. Ok, Robert. Well, I'm 'Serious Black.' But believe me, I'm anything but serious," Sirius said with a grin. Me and Harry shook our heads at the terrible joke before I walked into the kitchen.

"Give me a moment fellas. As soon as I finish, we're going to party until we drop the floor!" I exclaimed. Sirius cheered and Harry looked at me with a skeptical look.

"Since when are you all about parties?" he asked.

"Since now! Roll with it!" I said as I walked into the kitchen. I had a wide grin on my face. Special Forces could wait for a while longer. I was going have some fun tonight.

* * *

A/N: Whew! This took me a while to complete. But it's finally finished! The ending was far better than I thought it was going to be, and I'm extremely happy about that. After a while, I'll get started on the fourth installment. Believe me, I'm going to have a lot of fun writing that one. Hope you all enjoyed this last chapter. It's long as hell. I finally made it past the 10000 mark! Whoo! I definitely exceeded my expectations on this chapter. See you all next time!

On a side note, if any of you were wondering why I used words like "it," and "the werewolf," is because it's an attempt of making Lupin's savagery and lack of control while in his werewolf form more apparent. Did it work? I hope so.


	14. Chapter 14 - Next Story

A/N: Just an alert for the people who don't know. The fourth installment of this series has already been finished and uploaded. It's called The Triwizard Tournament on my profile.


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